Michael J. Moore and Dakin Campbell
Bloomberg
October 14, 2011
UBS AG (UBSN), Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) had long-term issuer default grades cut by Fitch Ratings, which put more than a dozen other lenders on watch negative as part of a global review.
UBS’s long-term issuer default rating and its “support rating floor” were cut to A from A+ on a “view that the one- notch uplift for close affiliation with the Swiss state is no longer warranted,” the ratings firm said yesterday in a statement. Lloyds and RBS were lowered two steps to A from AA- as Fitch said the U.K. is less likely to provide future support.
Fitch also placed viability ratings, and in some cases credit grades, on negative watch for seven global banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Morgan Stanley because of new regulations and economic developments. It put European banks such as Credit Agricole SA (ACA) on watch, based on sovereign debt concerns and said it would review Bank of America Corp. (BAC)’s mortgage-litigation risks.
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