S&P reviews credit ratings of 50 banks in MENA region.

By bne IntelliNews December 13, 2011
Standard & Poors (S&P) is reviewing the credit ratings of 50 banks in the MENA region under a new set of criteria, Timucin Engin, the rating agency's associate director of financial institutions told Reuters. Half of these banks operate in the GCC region. Engin expects any changes to MENA banks ratings to be announced by the end of 2011. The move is expected to result in higher funding costs for lenders in the region. The revamp of S&P ratings criteria in late November 2011 resulted in ratings cut on 15 global banks mostly in Europe and the US.

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