Financial Institutions

Highlights

• 24 May 2012
  • One Norwegian and three Swedish banks downgraded, and two Swedish banks confirmed, as part of wider review of European banks
    We downgraded one Norwegian bank and three Swedish banks, and confirmed two Swedish banks, as part of a review for downgrade of various European banks initiated on 15 February 2012. The outlook on the six affected banks is now stable. We already took action on 16 Spanish banks and 26 Italian banks last week, and on seven Portuguese banks in March. We expect to conclude the remaining reviews on other European banking systems by the end of June. This wider review is driven by the difficult European operating environment caused by the prolonged euro area crisis, and the deteriorating creditworthiness of certain euro area sovereigns… Bank Ratings Page l Ratings List
• 23 May 2012
  • Supreme Court healthcare reform decision: What will it mean for insurers?
    Since its passage in early 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has affected health insurers’ strategies, profitability and credit profiles. In anticipation of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the issues argued before the Court in March, this report takes a look at the three most likely outcomes and analyzes the credit implications of each for the health insurance sector… Press Release l Full Report
• 21 May 2012
  • Increased overseas lending by Japan’s mega banks is credit positive
    A striking feature of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s, Mizuho Financial Group’s and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s results for the fiscal year ended March was a 22.0% jump in overseas lending by their domestic subsidiaries. As a result, overseas lending accounted for 19% of the banks’ total outstanding loans in the most recent fiscal year… Full Report