Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut the credit ratings of five Spain-based financial institutions to junk status, the agency said Friday.
Bankia SA, which was nationalized this month, Banco Popular Espanol SA and Bankinter SA were downgraded after S&P's review of the Spanish banking industry's economic risk.
The agency left unchanged its ratings on the country's two biggest banks, Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. S&P's action follows by just days a similar action Moody's Investors Service, another big ratings agency.
