The New York Attorney General's office is investigating whether eight banks misled ratings agencies about the quality of mortgage securities they were offering, a source familiar with the matter said.

The eight banks being investigated are Citigroup Inc, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, UBS AG, and Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America, the source said.

The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigations are not public.

(Reporting by Steve Eder; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)