Moody's downgrades leading banks

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the standalone bank financial strength rating (BFSR) of three Indian banks -- Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank Limited -- to D+ from C-, which now maps to a baseline credit assessment (BCA) of baa3 from baa2 on the long-term scale.

The rating actions took place in the context of an ongoing global review affecting all banks whose standalone ratings are higher than the rating of the government where they are domiciled, and they conclude the review that was initiated on 30 April 2012, stated in press release.

At the same time, the rating agency has downgraded the hybrid ratings of Axis Bank and ICICI Bank Limited to Ba3 (hyb) from Ba2 (hyb) . All revised ratings carry stable outlooks, Moody's said in the press release.

The shares of the Axis bank were down 2.29%, the HDFC Bank was lower by 1.92% and ICICI bank was down 1.32% on BSE at 12.20 pm IST.

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