December 19, 2008

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG are among 12 financial companies whose ratings or outlooks were cut by Standard & Poor’s, which cited increased risks for the whole banking industry.

“The downgrades and revised outlooks reflect our view of the significant pressure on large complex financial institutions’ future performance due to increasing bank industry risk and the deepening global economic slowdown,” S&P said in a statement.

Banks worldwide have reported more than $745 billion of writedowns and losses since the credit crisis began, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. S&P said it expects banks to face more volatility in funding markets and a higher level of stress than in a “typical business-cycle trough.”