Friday newspaper round-up: Deutsche Bank, Hinkley Point, consumer confidence

The US Department of Justice hopes to agree an omnibus settlement with Barclays,Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, extracting multibillion dollar fines from three of Europe’s biggest lenders for mis-selling mortgage securities. By grouping the three banks together into a single deal the DoJ hopes to achieve maximum public impact by collecting an eye-catching sum in penalties from the trio just weeks before the US presidential election. – Financial Times

Hedge funds have started to pull some of their business from Deutsche Bank, setting up a potential showdown with German authorities over the future of the country’s largest lender. As its shares fell sharply in New York trading, Deutsche recirculated a statement emphasising its strong financial position. – Financial Times

What’s going on with the banking industry? Since the credit crunch in 2008, banks have been struggling to adapt to their new environment. Low interest rates coupled with meagre yields in the financial markets mean banks can generate fewer profits from the deposits they collect, the loans they dole out, and the market services they provide. While government schemes such as Funding for Lending have propped up some of the banks’ operations, they have dampened activity in other areas, for example by subduing market volatility with vast quantitative easing programmes. – Telegraph

Consumer confidence bounced-back to pre-EU referendum levels in September as households shrugged off Brexit jitters and continued to spend.All five measures used to compile GfK’s closely-watched confidence index climbed this month, including a jump in optimism about the economy and consumers’ willingness to spend on big ticket items such as fridges and televisions. – Telegraph

The UK has signed its £18bn contract with France and China to build the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, giving the final go-ahead for construction at the site in Somerset. The deal was finalised at a low-key ceremony in London, just two months afterTheresa May alarmed her French and Chinese counterparts by putting the entire project under review. EDF, the French nuclear contractor, and its Chinese partners had to cancel their previous plans for a signing ceremony at the last minute when the review was announced in July. – Guardian

A slump in home ownership and less generous pensions have left those born in the early 1980s with only half the wealth of those born a decade earlier by the same stage of their lives. In fresh evidence of the UK’s growing inter-generational divide, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has reported that people in their early 30s had average net household wealth of £27,000 from equity in their homes, the value of their pensions and other financial investments. – Guardian

Landlords will face tougher stress tests from mortgage lenders next year as the Bank of England attempts to bring the booming buy-to-let sector into line with the rest of the housing market. For the first time, the Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority has implemented regulations that a landlord must meet to be given a mortgage. – The Times