Moody’s cuts Barclays to Baa3

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings of Barclays plc to Baa3 from Baa2, concluding the review for downgrade it announced on Feb. 22.

Barclays' short-term ratings were confirmed at Prime-3.

The agency also assigned a baa3 notional baseline credit assessment.

The standalone baseline credit assessment (BCA) of Barclays Bank plc (Barclays Bank), the group's non-ring-fenced bank, was downgraded to baa3 from baa2 and its long-term deposit and senior unsecured debt ratings were downgraded to A2 from A1.

In addition, Barclays Bank's short-term ratings were confirmed at Prime-1 and the long-term counterparty risk assessment was downgraded to A2(cr) from A1(cr). The Prime-1(cr) short-term counterparty risk assessment was unaffected.

"The ratings downgrade for Barclays and Barclays Bank reflects Moody's assessment of the overall group's credit profile, particularly in light of its ongoing profitability challenges, and the impact on existing creditors of the implementation of ring-fencing," Moody’s senior vice president Andrea Usai said in a news release.

Moody's also assigned a stable outlook on the ratings for Barclays and Barclays Bank.

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