European banking shares on Friday dropped sharply in anticipation of US jobs data and a published report that the Federal Housing finance agency is planning to file a lawsuit against “more than a dozen” banks over alleged misrepresentation in mortgage backed securities.

Alleged targets of the planned lawsuit are said to include JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. Although none of the targets have been officially been confirmed, the report said the suits were expected to be filed by Tuesday.

In early trading financial institutions shares slid following the news. Markets observed a 3.7 percent drop for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, a 2.7 percent fall for Barclays, and a decrease of 2.9 percent for BNP Paribas in Paris.