Moody's Puts Major U.S. Consumer Banks on Ratings Watch

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00015307-moodys-puts-major-us-consumer-banks-on-ra/

Ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service said Wednesday that the largest consumer banks in the nation are at danger of seeing the ratings on the their bonds lowered because the support the banks received from the Federal government is over-valued.

Moody’s said that the bailouts received by Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have led to support assumptions that are no longer valid. Moody’s suggests that the help provided by the government in 2008 will not materialize should the banks run into trouble down the road.

Moody’s said that the ratings watch is specific to the banks’ senior subordinated debt, not debt backed by the FDIC.