Facing a statute of limitations deadline, the Federal Housing Finance Agency filed lawsuits against 17 firms last week in an effort to recover losses the government-sponsored enterprises suffered on their investments in non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The FHFA claimed violations of securities laws, alleging that non-agency MBS prospectuses contained material false statements and omissions. The lawsuits relate to more than $196.2 billion in non-agency MBS purchased by the GSEs. The GSEs’ combined holdings of subprime and Alt A MBS have declined since at least the fourth quarter of 2007 when they totaled $217.2 billion, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets,. ...