Business briefing: CFPB files lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank, alleging the bank's employees opened fake accounts for customers in order to meet aggressive sales targets. The federal regulator alleged Monday that the bank knew its employees were opening fake accounts since at least 2008 and up until 2016, the same year that Wells Fargo admitted its own employees had opened fake accounts to meet aggressive sales goals. Wells Fargo was forced to pay billions of dollars in fines and penalties for its bad behavior. The CFPB alleges that some of the fake Fifth Third accounts were actually funded, meaning bank employees moved money from a customer's existing account to their new one, without their consent. Fifth Third's sales program required the accounts to be funded, so once the employee was credited for the sale, the money was moved back. However, moving money without a customer's consent is a violation of the Truth in Savings Act.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday halted nearly all inspections of overseas plants that ship drugs, medical devices and other consumer goods to the U.S., citing the global spread of the coronavirus. The agency announced it will postpone most foreign inspections scheduled through April. Last month, it postponed most inspections in China. The FDA is responsible for ensuring that food, drugs, cosmetics, medical supplies and other U.S. imports are produced in safe, sanitary conditions that meet quality standards.

Pacific Gas & Electric told a federal bankruptcy judge Tuesday that it has settled a dispute with disaster-relief agencies that threatened to siphon money away from a $13.5 billion fund earmarked for victims of catastrophic wildfires in California caused by the nation's largest utility. The resolution disclosed by a PG&E lawyer during a court hearing in San Francisco could remove a major stumbling block as the company scrambles to meet a June 30 deadline to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings that began early last year. It's still unclear whether the deal worked out between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, California's Office of Emergency Services and lawyers for wildfire victims will satisfy everyone involved.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government narrowly defeated an attempt led by some of its own lawmakers to ban China's Huawei from building part of the U.K.'s high-speed telecommunications network. Three dozen Conservative lawmakers backed a call to bar "high-risk" firms such as Huawei from any involvement in the network after 2022. The move, which came in an amendment to a telecoms bill, was defeated 306-282 in the House of Commons, where the Conservatives have an 80-seat majority. Some 36 Tories rebelled. Britain angered the United States when it announced in January that it would let Huawei supply parts of its next-generation 5G cellular networks.