Wells Fargo & Company (WFC  ) is set to pay a whopping $3 billion settlement to resolve the company's liabilities and protect it from further litigation by authorities.

Wells Fargo's settlement is just the latest in a slew of fines the bank had to pay for the fake accounts scandal that was made public in 2016. The settlement will resolve the criminal case brought against Wells Fargo by the Department of Justice. Wells Fargo is not, however, protected from lawsuits and investigations against specific employees.

In its settlement, Wells Fargo admitted to numerous allegations against it, such as; the creation of millions of fake accounts using actual customer names to collect interest, falsified bank records, misused the personal information of its customers, and harmed the credit scores of its customers as a result of the fake accounts. While Wells Fargo has admitted to these charges, other investigations are still ongoing. As part of the settlement with regulators, Wells Fargo will cooperate with other federal investigations in exchange for no further litigation.

Many regulators have been vocal in their disapproval of Wells Fargo's actions. For many, Wells Fargo's actions are an abdication of its responsibility to its customers in favor of profits. "This case illustrates a complete failure of leadership at multiple levels within the bank. Simply put, Wells Fargo traded its hard-earned reputation for short-term profits, and harmed untold numbers of customers along the way," says U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Nick Hanna, "We are hopeful that this $3 billion penalty, along with the personnel and structural changes at the Bank, will ensure that such conduct will not reoccur."

The Wells Fargo scandal began in 2016 when it came to light that the bank had been operating millions of fake accounts. Employees at the company were under tight sales goals, which prompted many to begin opening fake accounts with the information of real customers without their consent. While many executives at the company have refused to state that it was tight sales goals that drove employees to commit fraud, regulators have identified this as the primary motivation behind the fraudulent accounts.