Moody's Downgrades Italian Banks; Outlook Negative

Moody's downgraded 13 Italian financial institutions on Monday including some of the country's largest banks Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit with a negative outlook.

The downgrades by one notch of seven institutions and two notches for the remaining six follows a double-downgrade of the country's sovereign debt rating to Baa2 on Friday, two levels above junk status.

"Today's actions follow the weakening of the Italian government's credit profile, as captured by Moody's downgrade of Italy's government bond rating to Baa2 from A3, with a negative outlook," Moody's said in a statement.

Long-term deposit and debt ratings at Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit were cut to Baa2 from A3 in line with the country's sovereign rating, with a negative outlook on all ratings.