S&P: Why we changed the way we look at banks

BANKS

The ratings agency's new criteria aims to keep an eye on banks' creditworthiness as the global banking sector looks to reinvent itself.

The global banking sector is at a crossroads, following the unprecedented turmoil of the past four years. As it seeks to reinvent itself, the sector faces several critical inflection points that will affect the future creditworthiness of banks. It is too early to tell how each one will play out but we believe our new banking criteria provides a coherent, globally consistent framework to assess how these developments are likely to affect the creditworthiness of banks.  Power shift The first major inflection point currently facing the banking sector is a potential shift in the powe...