Really wasn't sure if this is the right place for this... Karl please move it if it is in the wrong place.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/moodys-jun....

Quote:

Nearly two weeks ago we penned "These Three Spanish Banks Will Be Downgraded Tomorrow" which showed which banks had a rating higher than the sovereign following Moody's long overdue Spanish downgrade, and thus were about to be downgraded by many notches. Today, after a ridiculously long delay whose only purpose was to buy time, Moody's is about to junk virtually the entire Spanish banking sector, as was widely expected.The downgrade is expected to happen within hours.

Quote:

From Expansion (google translated)

After cutting the rating of Baa3 and Spain to threaten to put Spanish debt at the level of junk bond no later than 30 days, has reviewed the notes of all banks. "We have reported a reduction of two or three notches (steps) to almost everyone. Do not look at individual financial statements of each entity. Do not discriminate, "added the sources.

And is that the sector is particularly annoying because automatically cut the rating of the bank once they do the same with the state. The statement, as indicated by financial sources will be announced after twelve hours have told the entities, ie, probably after 23:00 tonight.

The biggest problem is that many entities will enter into the very undesirable group of fallen angels. Typically, banks with a rating lower than the state and how it is now just one step from losing investment grade, most of the financial sector will receive a rating of junk bond. Possibly, only the big banks such as Santander, BBVA or get rid CaixaBank will fall to that level.

This is the third hit Spanish banks received in just over a month. Moody's has already cut the rating of several entities on 17 May. Downgraded the debt of 16 Spanish companies between one and three steps, also as a result of cutting Spanish debt rating a few days.

Of course, since no Spanish banks have access to the non-ECB mediated market, this move is largely symbolic but further cements the country's status as financial system pariah and the next Greece.

Somebody defib the rally monkey, stat!

Better late than never.

so did they?

Nothing as yet...

Cuts 28 banks one to four notches.........cue rally Monkey.

They did:

Madrid, June 25, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded by one to four notches the long-term debt and deposit ratings for 28 Spanish banks and two issuer ratings.

Today's actions follow the weakening of the Spanish government's creditworthiness, as captured by Moody's downgrade of Spain's government bond ratings to Baa3 from A3 on 13 June 2012, and the initiation of a review for further downgrade. For more details on the rationale for the sovereign downgrade, please refer to the press release (http://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-do....

Moody's adds that today's downgrades of the long-term debt and deposit ratings also reflect the lowering of most of these banks' standalone credit assessments.

The debt and deposit ratings declined by one notch for three banks, by two notches for 11 banks, by three notches for ten banks and by four notches for six banks. The short-term ratings for 19 banks have also been downgraded between one and two notches, triggered by the long-term ratings changes.

Today's actions reflect, to various degrees across these banks, two main drivers:

(i) Moody's assessment of the reduced creditworthiness of the Spanish sovereign, which not only affects the government's ability to support the banks, but also weighs on banks' standalone credit profiles, and

(ii) Moody's expectation that the banks' exposures to commercial real estate (CRE) will likely cause higher losses, which might increase the likelihood that these banks will require external support.

This notwithstanding, Moody's views positively the broad based support measures being introduced by the Spanish government to support the Spanish banking system as a whole. Moody's will assess the impact of the upcoming recapitalization on banks' creditworthiness and bondholders once the final amount, timing and form of funds flowing to each individual bank are known.

The ratings of both Banco Santander and Santander Consumer Finance are one notch higher than the sovereign's rating, due to the high degree of geographical diversification of their balance sheet and income sources, and a manageable level of direct exposure to Spanish sovereign debt relative to their Tier 1 capital, including under stress scenarios. All the rest of the affected banks' standalone ratings are now at or below Spain's Baa3 rating.

In addition, Moody's has also downgraded (i) the ratings for senior subordinated debt and hybrid instruments of affected entities; (ii) all rated government-backed debt issuances from Spanish banks; and (iii) the long-term debt ratings of Instituto de Credito Oficial (ICO), which are based on an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee from the Spanish Government.