Royal Bank of Scotland tentatively settles US claims

LONDON — Royal Bank of Scotland says it has tentatively agreed to pay $4.9 billion to settle U.S. Department of Justice claims that it misled investors over the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis.

The settlement marks a watershed moment for RBS, which was bailed out by British taxpayers after a series of acquisitions briefly made it the largest bank in the world before the crisis. The government insisted that the mis-selling claims had to be resolved before it could sell Britain’s 72-per cent stake in RBS.

Chief Executive Ross McEwan says the settlement will “allow us to deal with this significant remaining legacy issue and is the price we have to pay for the global ambitions pursued by this bank before the crisis.”