S&P; places EU, big European banks on negative watch
December 8th, 2011 - 1:31 pm ICT by IANSNew York, Dec 8 (IANS) Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has put its ratings on the European Union (EU) and some big banks on negative credit watch, warning possible downgrades within next 90 days if European leaders failed to find a radical solution to the region’s deteriorating debt crisis.
The move Wednesday, which came after the rating agency put the credit ratings of 15 euro zone nations on watch, was “an expression of its concerns about the potential impact on the future debt service capacity of eurozone sovereigns”, as Eurozone members account for 62 percent of the EU’s total 2011 budgeted revenues, said S&P.;
The decision will be made “as soon as possible” after the upcoming European summit, according to the agency.
The agency also said it will lower the long-term issuer credit rating on the EU by one notch if it decided to lower the current ‘AAA’ ratings on one or more member states, especially large countries like France and Germany, reported Xinhua.
The ratings on Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg could be lowered by up to one notch, if at all, and those on Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Spain by up to two notches.
At the same time, the rating agency also put its ratings on some of the largest rated banking groups in the eurozone, including BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and UniCredit, on negative watch while warned similar rating actions on other large banks will follow soon.
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- S&P; puts 15 euro zone nations on negative watch - Dec 06, 2011
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- Fitch downgrades ratings of five EU nations - Jan 28, 2012
- Greek referendum plan plunges financial markets into frenzy - Nov 02, 2011
- US loses 'stable' outlook from top agencies - Nov 29, 2011
- Moody's downgrades Spain's debt rating - Mar 11, 2011
- Moody's cuts credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks - May 19, 2012
- S&P; downgrades Hungary credit rating to junk - Dec 22, 2011
- US credit rating downgrade worrisome: Pranab - Aug 06, 2011
- US loses AAA credit rating, terms it 'a facts-be-damned decision' (Lead) - Aug 06, 2011
- For first time, US loses AAA credit rating - Aug 06, 2011
Tags: bnp paribas, debt crisis, debt service, deutsche bank, downgrades, euro zone, european banks, european leaders, european summit, ireland italy, member states, new york dec, notch, notches, radical solution, republic slovenia, slovak republic, sovereigns, unicredit, xinhua