Swathe of European insurers face a credit downgrade

Standard & Poors on Friday warned a swathe of European insurers that they could face a credit downgrade as a result of the continents fiscal crisis.Allianz, Aviva, Axa, Generali and Mapfre were among 15 firms warned by the US-based ratings agency.S&P said the creditwatch was related to an earlier warning on the ratings of 15 of the 17 countries of the eurozone.S&Ps warning on Monday threatened a one-notch cut to the hallowed AAA ratings of Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Luxembourg and Austria.France, also AAA-rated and the eurozones second-largest economy, could be hit with a two-notch cut, as could the other countries currently rated below AAA.S&P said it would complete a review of the 15 countries ratings as soon as possible following the EU summit. It warned Tuesday that the eurozones 440-billion-euro EFSF bailout fund, which depends on the triple-A ratings of six eurozone countries, also risks losing its top rating.For insurers, the firm pointed to market turmoil and poor capital trends.Our more-recent negative adjustments to Europes economic growth prospects and the potentially heightened credit risk... only serve to compound the difficulties that insurers face.