Fitch Ratings has announced it has placed the four major Australian banks’ long-term issuer default ratings and viability ratings, together with many of the other major bank’s subsidiaries, on rating watch negative.

 

Fitch advised that it expects any potential downgrades of the four major Australian banks' ratings would most likely be limited to one notch, with those

entities currently rated at 'AA' most at risk.

 

ANZ has a long-term credit rating AA-, while National Australia Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank have a AA rating.

 

The announcement by Fitch forms part of a broader review of their debt ratings that are applied to the largest banking institutions in the world.

 

In its announcement Fitch noted that it “… expects to resolve the RWN within a short time frame and will incorporate an updated view of Australian banks' strengths, weaknesses and trends. The agency expects that any downgrades of the four major Australian banks' ratings are most likely to be limited to one notch…”.

 

Fitch has also placed the major New Zealand banks on RWN. As a result, Westpac New Zealand Limited’s AA long-term foreign currency issuer default rating, long-term local currency issuer default rating and unguaranteed senior unsecured debt rating have been placed on RWN.