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Oct 27 (Reuters) - Barclays said on Thursday aBloomberg report that it is trying to cap a penalty to settle aU.S investigation into its sale of mortgage securities at $2billion was based on ill-informed speculation.
Citing a source, news agency Bloomberg reported Barclays wastrying to cap the penalty after receiving an opening offer itconsidered too high.
The Department of Justice's (DoJ) starting point fornegotiations wasn't disclosed but it was less than the $14billion opening offer by the U.S. to Deutsche Bank over similar allegations, Bloomberg said.
"This story is based on ill-informed speculation andcontains material inaccuracies," a Barclays spokesman said in astatement that referred to the Bloomberg report.
A spokesman for DOJ declined to comment.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that nosettlement is imminent.
Deutsche and Barclays are among a group of banks beingprobed by U.S. authorities over alleged misconduct in the saleof mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financialcrisis.
Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest lender, has been in thespotlight since a September report that DoJ asked the bank for$14 billion to settle the probe into its mortgage-backedsecurities. (Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing byAlexandra Hudson)
