WAFD - 6 Regional Banks' Ratings on Review for Downgrade by Moody's | Benzinga
Commercial real estate ("CRE") continues to be an area of concern amid the high-interest-rate environment. Because of their significant exposure to CRE loans, the long-term ratings of at least six regional banks in the United States have been placed under review for downgrade by Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO).
The banks are Old National Bancorp (NASDAQ: ONB), Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FULT), F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB), WaFd, Inc. (NASDAQ: WAFD), First Merchants Corp. (NASDAQ: FRME) and Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corp (NASDAQ: PGC).
Notably, at the time when interest rates were low in the United States, various regional banks increased their concentrations in CRE, which, by nature, is a volatile asset class.
Now, amid the ...