Santander is downgraded

MOODY’S downgraded five of Spain’s biggest lenders last night, including Banco Santander, following on from its downgrade of the sovereign state on Tuesday night.

The other banks downgraded were BBVA, CaixaBank, La Caixa and Confederación Espanola de Cajas de Ahorros (CECA). The agency limited its actions to Spain’s biggest, systemically important banks because it said they were most affected by the sovereign downgrade due to a higher likelihood of bailout should they fail.

Moody’s also downgraded 16 Spanish regional authorities.