CNN

The federal agency overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac filed lawsuits against 17 financial institutions in an attempt to recover losses from risky mortgage investments.

The lawsuits were filed against many of the nation's largest Wall Street and financial firms, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

In the complaints, the Federal Housing Finance Agency contends the institutions misrepresented the quality of the investments' underlying loans.