Wednesday, December 7, 2011

S&P Puts Downgrade Sights on EU, Big Banks

Wall Street Journal
December 7, 2011

The European Union and some of the largest banks in the euro zone were added to Standard & Poor's list of entities on watch for possible downgrade.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services also put a swath of European local and regional governments and public-finance entities on watch for possible downgrade, including the cities of Paris, Rome and Vienna.

S&P said the moves, which come after the credit-rating firm took similar action on most euro-zone member countries earlier this week, were taken because the countries that use the euro directly contribute about 62% of the EU's total budgeted revenue this year, putting the union's triple-A rating at risk. The U.K. and Denmark are among the EU nations that don't use the euro.

S&P said its review will focus the ability of the euro zone's member states to support the EU's overall debt service should the institution face financial distress.

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