LONDON: A decade after the financial crisis, European banks’ bill for past misconduct could exceed $100 billion globally, with several lenders still facing cases potentially costing billions of dollars to settle.
The banks have spent at least $81 billion in the past decade to resolve accusations including market manipulation, sanctions violations and the sale of toxic mortgage securities that contributed to the crisis, a Bloomberg tally of disclosed fines, settlements and litigation payments shows.
Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence say the lenders with the biggest misconduct bills so far could face an additional $33 billion or more in U.S. litigation risk alone.
The biggest wild card may be the U.S. Department of Justice. Some lenders, including Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and UBS Group AG, have yet to settle with the U.S. over their role in selling mortgage securities. Started under the Obama administration, the mortgage-bond probes were the costliest for other global banks to resolve. But nearly a year into the Trump administration, U.S. law enforcers have wrapped up a few legacy cases against banks, increasing the difficulty of predicting future settlements.
The banks declined to comment.
