Moody’s Cuts Ratings of 8 Big Banks

A major Wall Street debt analyzer said Wednesday that it had reduced its credit ratings for eight of the nation’s biggest banking institutions because of a decline in its valuation of their foreign loans.

The action by Moody’s Investor Services comes 15 days after another credit ratings service, Standard & Poor’s Corp., lowered its estimate of the creditworthiness of five big banking companies.

Moody’s also said it had confirmed its ratings for three banking companies and was continuing to review its rating on debt from a 12th banking concern, European American Bank Corp.

The eight downgrades included J. P. Morgan & Co., Bankers Trust Co., Citibank, Chase Manhattan Corp., Chemical New York Corp., Manufacturers Hanover Corp., BankAmerica Corp. and Irving Trust.

The three ratings confirmations were for First Chicago Corp., Continental Illinois Corp. and Bank of Nova Scotia.

The ratings help determine interest rate levels for companies borrowing money in the credit markets and apply to securities of various maturities. A lower rating often means a company may have to pay more interest to sell debt.