Deutsche Bank says it has no intent of paying $14bn over US probe

Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) has been asked to pay $14bn (£11bn) to settle a US probe into mortgage-linked financial products, the lender has said.

But the German firm said it had "no intent to settle these potential civil claims anywhere near the number cited".

The scale of the claim is well ahead of expectations.

A pay-out of $14bn could further rock investor confidence in the bank. Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) fell more than 8%.

UK-based banks were also down with Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) leading the FTSE 100 fallers with a decline of 4.4%.

Standard Chartered (HKSE: 2888.HK - news) and Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) were lower as well.

Troubled Deutsche has seen profits tumble amid a tough business climate and major restructuring under boss John Cryan - appointed last year - which has seen thousands of jobs go.

Problems at the German lending giant prompted the International Monetary Fund to describe it earlier this year as a "major systemic risk" to the global financial system.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on the probe.

Deutsche said negotiations were "only just beginning" and it expected to see an out come "similar to those of peer banks which have settled at materially lower amounts".

In 2014, US bank Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) settled a probe into mortgage-backed securities for $7bn (£5bn) while in a similar case this year, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) agreed to pay $5bn (£4bn).

The investigations date back to banks' behaviour during the financial crisis when they mis-sold investments backed by risky mortgage loans that went bad, triggering economic meltdown.

Deutsche said the claim it was facing was in relation to its "issuance and underwriting of residential mortgage-backed securities" and related activities between 2005 and 2007.