The international ratings agency Moody's today cut its ratings of banks in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, owing to deteriorating euro zone financial conditions.
Moody's added that it continued to assess major French banks BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole.
But it did not say when it would issue a statement concerning them.
Moody's cut its note on the French bank BPCE by two notches to "A2" from "Aa3" while maintaining a stable outlook, and confirmed one on rival CIC at "Aa3."
"Although France remains one of the stronger economies in the euro area, Moody's expects that weakening economic conditions will lead to mounting negative pressures on the group's overall asset quality," it said in relation to BPCE.
The rating for Belgian bank and insurance group KBC was also cut by two notches to "A3" from "A2", while its outlook stayed stable as well.
Moody's pointed to "KBC Bank's higher sensitivity to the deteriorating European macro-economic environment, due its exposures to markets experiencing material stress, notably Ireland and Hungary."
In Luxembourg, the Banque et Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat (BCEE) saw its rating cut to "Aa1" from "Aaa," owing largely to "the bank's material borrower and industry concentrations, notably to Italian government bond holdings and to the European banking sector in general."
Five Dutch banking groups saw their ratings downgraded, meanwhile. Two-notch cuts were applied to Rabobank Nederland, to "Aa2", to ING Bank to "A2", to ABN AMRO Bank to "Aa2", Moody's said.
The outlook for Rabobank and ABN AMRO remained stable, while ING was hit with a negative outlook.
"Today's actions reflect Moody's view that Dutch banks will face difficult operating conditions throughout 2012 and possibly beyond," the agency said. It was the latest in a slew of downgrades of euro zone banks and countries by major global ratings agencies like Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's.
On February 15, Moody's launched a review of leading European banks, including French groups BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole, and said today that the assessments "will be concluded together with the reviews for other global firms with large capital markets operations."
Moody's did not give a date, however, and also declined to identify the other global firms it referred to.
