US regulators are likely to sue former executives who were in charge of Fannie Mae, the giant mortgage company which has been at the centre of an $11bn (€8.7bn) accounting scandal.

James Lockhart, head of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the agency which regulates Fannie Mae, told reporters that it will "more than likely" be filing litigation after delivering a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, according to the Associated Press.