S&P Downgrades Multiple US Banks Amid Challenging Operating Conditions

S&P Global Ratings has downgraded five regional US banks and signaled a negative outlook for others due to the challenging lending environment. The downgraded banks include KeyCorp, Comerica Inc., Valley National Bancorp, UMB Financial Corp., and Associated Banc-Corp. This follows similar downgrades by Moody's two weeks ago. Regional banks have been facing higher interest rates on deposits and struggling to prevent deposit outflows, impacting their profitability. S&P cited factors such as declining deposits and a high proportion of commercial and uninsured deposits as reasons for the downgrades.