S&P ups Banco Santander, BBVA; subsidiaries

Standard & Poor's said it raised the long-term counterparty credit rating on Banco Santander SA to A- from BBB+ and its highly strategic subsidiaries Santander Consumer Finance SA, Santander Holdings USA and Santander Bank NA to BBB+ from BBB.

The short-term ratings on all the entities were affirmed at A-2.

The agency also raised the long-term counterparty credit ratings on Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) and on its highly strategic subsidiaries, BBVA Compass Bancshares and Compass Bank, to BBB+ from BBB.

The A-2 short-term ratings were affirmed.

Finally, S&P affirmed its BBB/A-2 ratings on Caixabank SA and Cecabank SA and its BB/B ratings on Ibercaja Banco SA.

The outlook on Ibercaja is positive. All other outlooks are stable.

S&P said its Oct. 2 upgrade of Spain to BBB+ drove it to raise the ratings on the country's largest financial institutions: Banco Santander and BBVA. The ratings on both had previously been constrained by the comparatively weaker creditworthiness of their home country.

Following these actions, the ratings on both banks reflect the agency’s view of their stand-alone credit profiles of a- and bbb+, respectively.

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