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LONDON (Alliance News) - Deutsche Bank, Barclays Bank PLC and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC were among a handful of European banks downgraded on Tuesday by Standard & Poor's, amid concern that state support in a crisis is now 'uncertain', the FT reported Wednesday.
Analysts with the rating agency warned that it was unclear what support even systematically important financial institutions in the UK and Germany would receive, following the recent implementation of the European Union's Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive, the newspaper said.
S&P lowered the counterparty credit rating of Barclays Bank one notch to 'A-', with Deutsche Bank and RBS cut to 'BBB+' from 'A' and 'A-', respectively. RBS confirmed the downgrade in a statement.
The downgrades mainly affected the operating units of the banks, with Barclays PLC ? the holding company of the namesake group ? retaining its 'BBB' rating. The same held true for RBS, with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's 'BBB-' affirmed, the FT added.
S&P also downgraded Commerzbank to 'BBB+' from 'A-' and Unicredit to 'BBB' from 'A-'.
http://www.ft.com/fastft/338432/deutsche-bank-barclays-rbs-downgraded-sandp
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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