RBS says not in talks with U.S. authorities over mortgage settlements

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland is not currently in talks with U.S. authorities to settle claims it misled investors in mortgage-backed securities in the United States, its finance director told reporters. The bank has so far set aside 2.1 billion pounds to deal with the matter and analysts had expected settlements before the end of 2015. "We're not currently in any settlement discussions with U.S. authorities. We would hope and expect that we would enter into discussions over the next 6 to 12 months but we're not currently in any discussions," Ewen Stevenson told reporters. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham, editing by Sinead Cruise)