NEW YORK (AP) — California and federal regulators fined Wells Fargo a combined $185 million on Thursday, alleging the bank’s employees illegally opened millions of unauthorized accounts for their customers in order to meet aggressive sales goals. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said employees at Wells Fargo, the world's largest bank by market value, had illegally boosted sales figures by opening unauthorized deposit and credit accounts and then covertly funding them with customers' money, sometimes creating phony email addresses to enroll them. “Based upon that review, we determined that the matter was not material.”

Thousands of employees at Wells Fargo were involved in opening accounts and moving funds that resulted in customers getting charged fees for services they didn’t seek, according to the regulators. “Because of the severity of these violations, Wells Fargo is paying the largest penalty the CFPB has ever imposed.”

The bank agreed to resolve the allegations without admitting or denying the agencies’ accusations, and said in a statement that it had set aside $5 million for customer remediation. In a statement, Wells Fargo said: “We regret and take responsibility for any instances where customers may have received a product that they did not request.” Wells Fargo said they’ve refunded $2.6 million in fees associated with any product that was opened without authorization. Wells Fargo, which fired 5,300 employees over the improper sales practices, agreed to pay a record $100 million fine to the CFPB, $35 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and $50 million to the Los Angeles city attorney to settle the matter.
International banking company Wells Fargo agrees to pay $190 million, including $100 million to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (largest ever for the agency), to settle a case involving deceptive sales that pushed customers into fee-generating accounts they never requested. The bank fired 5,300 employees over "inappropriate sales conduct." The firings took place over a five-year period.