Moody's cuts eight Greek bank ratings by 2 notches

Moody's Investors Service on Friday downgraded the ratings of eight Greek banks by two notches each citing a struggling domestic economy and declining deposits among reasons for the move, which was expected by markets.

Moody's said the outlooks for all the ratings remained negative. The downgrade concluded a review begun on July 25.

The agency cut National Bank of Greece SA (NBG), EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA (Eurobank), Alpha Bank AE (Alpha), Piraeus Bank SA (Piraeus), Agricultural Bank of Greece (ATE) and Attica Bank SA downgraded to Caa2 from B3.

Emporiki Bank of Greece (Emporiki) and General Bank of Greece (Geniki) were downgraded to B3 from B1.