Downgrade no threat for Australian banks
(5 December 2011 – Australia) Despite a downgrade by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, Australia’s big four remain the highest-rated banks in the world.
Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Westpac, National Australia Bank (NAB) and ANZ, all of which benefited from the government's AAA rating guarantee at the height of the global financial crisis, have been downgraded a notch to AA-. Listed investment bank Macquarie Group lost two grades to BBB from A-.
S&P is adjusting global ratings to reflect new assessment criteria and will roll out regional updates in coming weeks. So far, it has revised the world's top-tier banks and Asia Pacific banks. It shows the CBA, NAB, Westpac and ANZ are among the 13 highest-ranked banks in the world, alongside Banco Santander, BNP Paribas and Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp.
They are one step below Rabobank, which was cut to AA, and a further step behind Swedish Export Credit Corp which is AA+.
The chief executive of NAB, Cameron Clyne, told The Sydney Morning Herald ''NAB is a highly rated bank by global standards, is well capitalised, has strong funding and liquidity positions, and remains well-placed to continue to support customers.''
S&P said Macquarie Group had a weaker score than domestic-oriented institutions given its offshore operations. The chief financial officer of Macquarie, Greg Ward, told Bloomberg he was ''very pleased'' S&P left its rating unchanged for subsidiary Macquarie Bank, which raises 90 percent of the group's funding.
S&P is adjusting global ratings to reflect new assessment criteria and will roll out regional updates in coming weeks. So far, it has revised the world's top-tier banks and Asia Pacific banks. It shows the CBA, NAB, Westpac and ANZ are among the 13 highest-ranked banks in the world, alongside Banco Santander, BNP Paribas and Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp.
They are one step below Rabobank, which was cut to AA, and a further step behind Swedish Export Credit Corp which is AA+.
The chief executive of NAB, Cameron Clyne, told The Sydney Morning Herald ''NAB is a highly rated bank by global standards, is well capitalised, has strong funding and liquidity positions, and remains well-placed to continue to support customers.''
S&P said Macquarie Group had a weaker score than domestic-oriented institutions given its offshore operations. The chief financial officer of Macquarie, Greg Ward, told Bloomberg he was ''very pleased'' S&P left its rating unchanged for subsidiary Macquarie Bank, which raises 90 percent of the group's funding.
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