S&P downgrades the credit ratings of dozens of banks

Standard and Poor’s downgraded the credit ratings of dozens of banks Tuesday, after applying new criteria to the world’s 37 largest financial institutions.

Among those to suffer a ratings cut: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500), Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500).

Ratings of Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley dropped one notch to A- from A. S&P maintained a “negative” outlook on those companies.

Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) was cut one level to A+ from AA-, and also has a “negative” outlook.

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