Photographs: Athar Hussain/Reuters
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings of world's 15 biggest banks, including Bank of America, J P Morgan and Goldman Sachs, saying that they have significant exposure to volatility and capital market risks.
Some banks called the Moody's move backward looking, arbitrary and unwarranted.
Moody's said rating actions conclude the review initiated on February 15 when it announced a ratings review prompted by its reassessment of the volatility and risks that creditors of firms with global capital markets operations face.
Click NEXT to take a look at the banks that have been downgraded:
15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Reuters
1. Bank of America
Brian Moynihan (President & CEO);
Charles Holliday (Chairman)
Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It is the second-largest bank holding company in the United States by assets.
As of 2011, the bank had 282,000 employees.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Rediff Archives
2. Goldman Sachs
Lloyd Blankfein (chairman & CEO),
Gary Cohn (president & COO),
David Viniar (executive VP & CFO)
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc is a global investment banking and securities firm.Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 by German immigrant Marcus Goldman and is headquartered at the Lower Manhattan area of New York.
The group engages in investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients.
Despite the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis, Goldman was able to profit from the collapse in subprime mortgage bonds by short-selling subprime mortgage-backed securities.
However, the firm's viability was later questioned as the crisis intensified in September 2008.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
3. JPMorgan
Jamie Dimon (Chairman, president and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
JP Morgan is a leader in financial services, offering solutions to clients in more than 100 countries.
JP Morgan is part of JPMorgan Chase & Co., a global financial services firm with assets of $2.3 trillion.
Chase & Co is an American multinational banking corporation of securities, investments and retail.It was formed in 2000, when Chase Manhattan Corporation merged with JP Morgan & Co.
It is the largest bank in the United States by assets and market capitalisation.
The bank is headquartered at 270 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York City.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Chris Upson/Wikimedia Commons
4. Morgan Stanley
James P Gorman (Chairman and CEO)
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City.
It serves a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals.
Morgan Stanley operates in 42 countries, and has more than 1300 offices and 60,000 employees.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Rediff Archives
5. Citigroup
Vikram Pandit (CEO).
Citigroup Inc. was formed by combining Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group on April 7, 1998.
It holds over 200 million customer accounts in more than 140 countries.
Citigroup Inc. has over 16,000 offices worldwide.
The bank is headquartered in New York.
The company employs approximately 260,000 people.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Ralph Orlowski/Reuters
6. Deutsche Bank
Anshu Jain/Jurgen Fitschen (Co-CEOs and chairmen of the management board);
Paul Achleitner (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Deutsche Bank AG is a global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in the Deutsche Bank Twin Towers in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany.
It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the emerging markets.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Jumana El Heloueh/Reuters
7. HSBC
Douglas Flint (Chairman)
Headquartered in London, HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world.
HSBC's international network comprises around 7,200 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
It serves about 89 million customers.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Mark Blinch/Reuters
8. Royal Bank of Canada
Gordon M Nixon (President and CEO)
Operating since 1864, RBC has grown to become one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies providing banking, wealth management, insurance and capital markets services on a global basis.
The bank was founded in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The bank serves 17 million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
9. Barclays
Marcus Agius (Group chairman)
Barclays PLC is a major bank operating in Europe, the United States, West Asia, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa.
It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank PLC.
It is headquartered in London.
It is the sponsor of the English Premier League.
The bank's roots can be traced back to 1690 in London.
It borrowed its name from Alexander and David Barclay, who provided credit to slave traders.
Barclays being a member of the global ATM Alliance, its customers can use ATMs of other banks free of charge.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
10. Credit Agricole SA (CASA)
Jean-Paul Chifflet (CEO) and Jean-Marie Sander (Chairman)
Credit Agricole SA is the largest retail banking group in France.
It is France's third-largest bank in terms of market capitalisation, with 59 million customers worldwide and 11,500 branches in 15 countries.
The bank is headquartered in Paris.
Credit Agricole is part of the CAC 40 stock market index.
The bank was the title sponsor of the Credit Agricole professional road cycling team from 1997 to 2008.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters
11. Credit Suisse
Brady Dougan (CEO)
The Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
12. Royal Bank of Scotland
Stephen Hester (Group CEO)
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, and together with NatWest and Ulster Bank, provides branch banking facilities throughout the British Isles.
The bank is headquartered in Edinburgh.
Royal Bank of Scotland has around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
13. Societe Generale
Frederic Oudea (Chairman and CEO)
Societe Generale S.A. is a large European Bank and a major Financial Services company that has a substantial global presence.
Its registered office is on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
Photographs: Reuters
14. UBS
Oswald Grubel (CEO)
The bank operates in more than 40 countries and is considered as the world's second largest manager of private wealth assets.
The bank came into being through the merger of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation on December 8, 1997.
The bank is headquartered in Zurich and Basel.
The bank employs more than 64,000 people.
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15 global banks that Moody's downgraded
10. BNP Paribas
Baudouin Prot (Chairman) and Jean-Laurent Bonnafe (CEO).
BNP Paribas is a global banking and financial services major and one of the six strongest banks in the world (Rated AA by Standard & Poor's, 3rd on a scale of 22).
Founded on May 23, 2000, the bank is headquartered in Boulevard des Italiens, Paris.
The group has four domestic retail banking markets in France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg.
It has one of the largest international networks with operations in 84 countries.
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