The credit-rating agency Fitch was fired by one of Portugal’s biggest banks today in the latest assault on agencies during Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.
Banco Espírito Santo (BES) was downgraded from A to BBB+ but insisted that the action by Fitch did “not reflect the financial soundness of the bank”.
It was the second downgrade of BES since July, prompting the bank to argue that there was “no valid justification for a three-notches downgrade in less than four months”. “Thus the board of directors decided to terminate the contract with Fitch Ratings as a result of these rating actions,” the bank said.
The agency also cut the ratings of three other Portuguese banks amid continuing concerns about the risks they faced in funding themselves on the markets and their reliance on funds provided by the European Central Bank (ECB).
The concerns expressed by BES follow fierce criticism of agencies during the crisis over debt-laden countries in the eurozone.
