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Spain’s banks hit by downgrade
FITCH and Standard & Poor’s both downgraded Spanish banks yesterday, following earlier downward revisions to the sovereign’s credit rating.
Fitch took notches off four Spanish banks, including BBVA, while S&P downgraded 15 financial groups.
And S&P went even further, by slashing the rating of Spain’s entire lending sector.
The Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BIRCA) was cut from group 5 to group 4, S&P revealed, with the industry risk score tumbling from group 5 to group 3.
“The BICRA change reflects our revised industry risk score, owing to our lower assessment of systemwide funding and competitive dynamics in Spain,” S&P said, after it downgraded Spanish state debt last month.