S&P downgrades Fannie and Freddie, farm lenders and bank debt backed by U.S. government
Posted August 8, 2011 10:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON – Officials at Standard & Poor’s are downgrading the credit ratings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other agencies linked to long-term U.S. debt.
The agency said it has also lowered the ratings for: farm lenders; long-term U.S. government-backed debt issued by 32 banks and credit unions; and three major clearinghouses, which are used to execute trades of stocks, bonds and options.
All the downgrades were from AAA to AA+. S&P said the agencies and banks all have debt that is exposed to economic volatility and a further downgrade of long-term U.S. debt.
Officials at Standard & Poor’s said they will also indicate shortly how local and state governments will be affected by their decision on Friday to lower the long-term U.S. debt from AAA to AA+.
