Wells Fargo has agreed to a pay $1 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by its shareholders who alleged the bank made misleading statements about its compliance with federal regulators after a fake account-opening scandal came to light in 2016.

The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of public employees of Rhode Island and Mississippi whose retirement funds had invested in Wells Fargo. A federal judge in New York on Tuesday granted preliminary approval of the settlement that was filed late Monday.

Wells Fargo has been sanctioned repeatedly by U.S. regulators for violations of consumer protection laws going back to 2016, when employees were found to have opened millions of accounts illegally in order to meet unrealistic sales goals.

In a statement about the settlement Tuesday, Wells Fargo said, “While we disagree with the allegations in this case, we are pleased to have resolved this matter.”

Most taxpayers are interested in filing their taxes directly to the IRS for free, a new report says, and that option will be tested next year.

The prospect of a free, government-run, online tax filing system has been debated for a long time. Supporters argue that the option would make tax return services more equitable and accessible for taxpayers nationwide. But there’s been pushback from some big tax-prep companies.

Now, the IRS plans to launch a pilot program for the 2024 filing season to test a “direct file” system and help the federal government decide on whether to move forward with potentially implementing it in the future, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel and the Treasury’s Chief Implementation Officer Laurel Blatchford confirmed on Tuesday.