Large international banks from Bank of America to Barclays suffered credit rating downgrades from Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday, putting pressure on their funding costs at a time of strain in the financial system.
S&P said it reviewed the ratings of 37 of the largest global financial institutions under a new model that gives more weight to the economic and systemwide funding risks of individual countries. Seven of eight US banks were downgraded.
BofA, which was downgraded from A to A-, said earlier this month that a one-notch ratings cut could force it to post $5.1bn of additional collateral against trades. Other banks are likely to face similar pressure.