Fifteen of the biggest global banks were downgraded on Thursday by Moody’s Investors Service, adding to pressure on their borrowing costs and questions over their business models
Fifteen of the biggest global banks were downgraded on Thursday by Moody’s Investors Service, adding to pressure on their borrowing costs and questions over their business models.
Morgan Stanley, the focus of investor anxieties in the weeks leading up to the announcement, escaped the three-notch downgrade that the rating agency had threatened during its review of large trading banks. Its long-term credit rating was cut from A2 to Baa1, three notches above “junk”.
Moody’s warned in February that it was reviewing the ratings of 17 banks with global capital market operations. Nomura and Macquarie have already been downgraded.
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Credit Suisse was the only bank to be downgraded by three notches. Morgan Stanley, UBS, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Royal Bank of Canada received double-notch downgrades. Bank of America, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Société Générale received single-notch downgrades. In a separate action outside the review, Lloyds Banking Group had its rating cut by one notch.
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