THE PARENT BANKS of National Irish Bank and ACC Bank have had their credit ratings lowered by the ratings agency Fitch, along with three other European banks.

Fitch this morning lowered the rating of Denmark-based Danske Bank from A+ to A, and the Netherlands-based Rabobank Group from AA+ to AA.

While both banks were removed from its ‘negative watchlist’, Danske Bank – which owns National Irish Bank – has been given a ‘negative outlook’, while Rabobank has been given a stable one.

In a statement Fitch said it envisaged the current European banking crisis as contuing “for some time”, though it did not predict the breakup of the eurozone.

“The downgrades reflect the broader phenomenon of stronger headwinds facing the banking industry as a whole… capital markets, in particular interbank markets, are not functioning effectively, and, along with more global factors, the crisis is driving economic slowdown.”

The other banks downgraded are Credit Agricole and the Banque Federative du Credit Mutuel, both based in France, and Finland’s OP-Pohjola Group.