Credit ratings agency Standard Poor's has downgraded the ranking of 37 international banks and financial firms.
The list includes banks in the US, Britain and Europe, among them Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, UBS, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.
But two Chinese banks - Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp -
were upgraded.
The BBC points out that the credit upgrade for the Chinese banks has come at a time when there have been increased concerns about the health of the country's banking sector.
Analysts say, however, that they are government owned and that means the risk to shareholders is quote low, with the government in a strong financial position should it need to step in.
