Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said yesterday a £3.6 billion deal struck with the US Department for Justice was a "milestone moment" in its efforts to clean up the business. The settlement, which has still to be finalised, will also remove a major hurdle to the Scottish banking giant's return to private hands. It follows claims the bank mis-sold toxic bonds – fuelling a sub-prime mortgage lending crisis in the US – in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. RBS said £2.5 billion of the proposed civil settlement was covered by existing provisions. The largely state-owned Edinburgh-based bank will take a £1.1 billion hit in second quarter results. Chief executive Ross McEwan said: "Today's announcement is a milestone moment for the bank. "Reaching this settlement in principle with the US Department of Justice will, when finalised, allow us to deal with this significant remaining legacy issue and is the price we have to pay for the global ambitions pursued by this bank before the crisis."