S&P Cuts Credit Ratings on 22 Banks

On a day when many banks announced they are paying back their TARP loans, Standard & Poor’s credit analysts cut the credit ratings or revised the outlooks on 22 national and regional banks Wednesday.

The firms on S&P’s list included such large names as Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), U.S. Bancorp (USB), PNC Financial (PNC), BB&T Corp (BBT) and KeyCorp (KEY).

S&P, the largest of the three major credit agencies, said it was revising the credit ratings of these banks in light that “operating conditions for the industry will become less favorable than they were in the past.”

Several smaller regional banks were also cut to “junk” status as part of S&P’s broad revisions. The banks pushed into junk territory are Carolina First Bank, Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. (CBRC), Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN), Synovus Financial Corp. (SNV) and Whitney Holding Corp. (WTNY).FullStory