Wells Fargo and its US shareholders have reached a $240m settlement over the fake-account creation scandal.

The bank was being investigated for opening fake and unauthorised bank accounts to achieve higher sales goals.

The settlement, subject to court approval, will resolve claims that the bank workers participated or were aware of such misconduct.

Wells Fargo fake-accounts probe:

According to the settlement, insurers for 20 current and former Wells Fargo executives and directors will pay the settlement to the bank, reported Reuters.

However, Wells Fargo spokesperson Peter Gilchrist did not confirm the settlement.

In September 2016, the bank admitted the fake-account opening scandal and agreed to pay $190m in fines to the government.

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Subsequently, additional misconducts on the part of the bank surfaced. It included selling auto insurance to customers who didn’t need them and charging excess mortgage fees.

The series of misconducts resulted in the departure of Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf.

In May last year, the bank agreed to a $480m settlement of a securities fraud lawsuit.

In December, it agreed to pay $575m to settle the fake accounts scandal with the US states.

Last week, Wells Fargo said it may have to pay $2.7bn to resolve the legal challenges, up from the earlier estimate of $2.2bn.

Last month, Wells Fargo reported a 1% rise in net income to $22.4bn.