Moody’s cut the credit ratings of several small and mid-sized banks and warned it may downgrade a handful of major Wall Street lenders.
The agency said late Monday that it lowered the ratings of 10 banks by one notch amid concerns over higher interest rates, rising funding costs and increased risk from the commercial real estate sector. Among the firms that had their ratings cut are M&T Bank, Pinnacle Financial, BOK Financial, Webster Financial, Old National Bancorp and Fulton Financial.
“U.S. banks continue to contend with interest rate and asset-liability management (ALM) risks with implications for liquidity and capital, as the wind-down of unconventional monetary policy drains systemwide deposits and higher interest rates depress the value of fixed-rate assets,” Moody’s analysts wrote in an accompanying research note explaining the decision.
