Wells Fargo's regulatory issues have dominated banking headlines since its fake accounts scandal broke in 2016, and the fallout from the episode continued this week. Meanwhile, similar allegations against another big player, Fifth Third Bank, came to light. Here's what the events mean for each bank.

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Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf testified before the House Financial Services Committee, providing updates on the firm's continued efforts to recover from its 2016 fake account scandal, NPR reports. Scharf acknowledged the firm "has not done what's necessary to address [its] shortcomings," but also vowed to move the bank in a "significantly improved direction."

Scharf - who stepped in as CEO in September 2019 - noted he's confident that the firm's reform plans are working, but that such efforts will likely continue until at least 2021. Scharf's testimony lasted over four hours due to intense questioning, and it's likely that some regulators think the bank's reputation is too far gone to rehabilitate.

This suggests that even despite Scharf's statements and its recent payment of a $3 billion settlement, Wells Fargo still has some significant regulatory barriers to clear before it can shuck the growth cap that the Federal Reserve placed on its deposits in 2018.

Meanwhile, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) lawsuit against Fifth Third alleged that the Cincinnati-based bank followed some of the same sales practices that initially landed Wells Fargo in hot water. The CFPB filed a lawsuit with the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois saying that Fifth Third employees opened deposit and credit card accounts without customer approval in order to meet sales goals.

It said that the unauthorized accounts were opened until at least 2016 - the year Wells Fargo's scandal was uncovered - and that the bank knew this for years and didn't do enough to monitor or adjust sales goals and incentive-based programs to discourage the behavior, The Wall Street Journal reports. Though Fifth Third denies the allegations, it should still ensure it's as transparent as possible with authorities to avoid the kind of extensive fallout that Wells Fargo has suffered, which has included billions of dollar in settlements and damage to its public perception.

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