Barclays to pay $2 billion to US to settle mortgage suit

NEW YORK — Barclays has agreed to pay $2 billion in civil penalties to the U.S. government to settle a lawsuit alleging that it was involved in a fraudulent scheme to sell residential mortgage-backed securities.

The announcement was made Thursday by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn.

The Justice Department sued the Britain-based Barclays Bank and several of its U.S. affiliates in late 2016 over the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007.

Barclays CEO Jes Staley said in a statement that the settlement was “fair and proportionate.”