Deutsche Bank agrees to US$7.2b mortgage settlement with US

New York

DEUTSCHE Bank has agreed to a US$7.2 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice over its sale and pooling of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The agreement in principle, announced by Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt headquarters early on Friday morning, offers some relief to the German lender, whose stock was hit hard in September after it acknowledged that the Justice Department had been seeking nearly twice as much.

It also highlights the Justice Department's recent efforts to hold European banks accountable for shoddy securities that contributed to…