S&P cuts Greek banks

Standard & Poor's said it lowered the long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings to B/C from B+/B on National Bank of Greece SA, EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, Alpha Bank AE and Piraeus Bank SA.

The CCC- issue ratings on the hybrid securities of the four Greek banks are unchanged.

With the exception of the CCC- issue ratings on the hybrid securities, all of the ratings on all of the banks remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Dec. 3.

The rating actions follow the lowering and maintenance on CreditWatch negative of the ratings on the Hellenic Republic (Greece; B/Watch Negative/C) on May 9.

The rating actions on these banks reflect the view of the increased risk that Greece will take steps to restructure the terms of its commercial debt, the agency said.

The downgrades factor in the impact that S&P believes their direct and indirect exposure to Greece's increased sovereign risk may have on these banks' business and financial profiles, particularly on their domestic retail funding bases, the agency added.

The negative CreditWatch implications on all of the ratings on the four Greek banks mirror those on the sovereign ratings on Greece, indicating the likelihood of a further downgrade in the event of another sovereign downgrade, S&P said.

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