Royal Bank of Scotland has taken another step toward clearing its crisis-era lawsuits and penalties, but its latest US mortgage settlement and Deutsche Bank’s current talks highlight just how much litigation European banks still need to close.

Big US banks have shelled out almost $56 billion since 2010 in settlements and consumer relief related just to mortgage bond cases, according to Barclays analysts. Europeans won't pay so much, but they have barely started. Their investors struggle to value these banks under the cloud of uncertain penalties.