Moody’s Cuts Debt Ratings of 16 Spanish Banks

Moody's Investors Service slashed the credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks and a U.K. subsidiary of Banco Santander.

Moody's cut the long-term debt and deposit ratings by "one to three notches" citing "adverse operating conditions, characterized by the renewed recession, the ongoing real-estate crisis and persistent high levels of unemployment."

"The rating downgrades primarily reflect the concurrent downgrades of most of these banks' standalone credit assessments, and in five cases also Moody's assessment that the Spanish government's ability to provide support to the banks has reduced," the rating service said in a statement.