Moody’s slashes banks’ ratings fearing bail-in
Moody’s announced on Friday it has downgraded the long-term senior and subordinated debt ratings of Greece’s four systemic lenders to C ahead of their recapitalization.
Moody’s previous ratings for Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National was Caa3, while for Piraeus Bank it was Ca.
Moody’s confirmed the Caa3 long-term deposit ratings of the abovementioned banks as well as Attica Bank, with negative outlooks. This rating action concludes the review for downgrade on Greek bank ratings, initiated in July, it added.
The downgrade of the banks’ debt ratings to C primarily reflects Moody’s expectation that junior and senior debt holders will be bailed in and sustain material losses as part of the upcoming recapitalization process, according to the agency’s statement. The confirmation of the banks’ Caa3 deposit ratings primarily reflects the losses incurred by depositors following the previous bank holidays and ongoing deposit controls.
