Moody’s downgrade hits 15 top banks

The Financial Times reports:

Fifteen of the biggest global banks were downgraded on Thursday by Moody’s Investors Service, adding to pressure on their borrowing costs and questions over their business models.

Morgan Stanley, the focus of investor anxieties in the weeks leading up to the announcement, escaped the three-notch downgrade that the rating agency had threatened during its review of large trading banks. Its long-term credit rating was cut from A2 to Baa1, three notches above “junk”.