Business News
S&P downgrades top US banks, upgrades two Chinese banks
Nov 30, 2011, 5:36 GMT
New York - Top Wall Street ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut the long-term bond grades for several major US banks late Tuesday.
At the same time, two Chinese banks saw their ratings strengthened.
The actions were part of a move by S&P to change its ratings methods, which the firm has been reviewing since the autumn 2008 Wall Street meltdown, when both mortgage-backed securities and corporations proved unsound despite top ratings from S&P and other agencies.
Among the banks downgraded were Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley, along with Bank of America Corp and its Merrill Lynch subsidiary, all cut from A- to A. JPMorgan Chase & Co was lowered from A+ to A.
In a sign of shifting power in global finance, S&P upgraded Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp from A- to A.
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in Business
- 1. US unemployment drops further, but figures disappoint
- 2. Japan stocks down as euro debt outweighs positive US data
- 3. Iraq resumes oil flow after pipeline blast in Turkey
- 4. Spanish bond auction lifts eurozone worries, sinks Japan stocks
- 5. ECB holds rates, rules out early exit from emergency measures
Older Talkback
