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S&P cuts outlooks on Canadian financial firms

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Friday lowered its outlooks on seven Canadian financial institutions to negative from stable while affirming their ratings. They include the Bank of Nova Scotia , Royal Bank of Canada , Toronto-Dominion Bank , Central 1 Credit Union, Home Capital Group Inc., Laurentian Bank of Canada and National Bank of Canada. "A prolonged run-up in housing prices and consumer indebtedness in Canada is in our view contributing to growing imbalances and Canada's vulnerability to the generally weak global economy, applying negative pressure on economic risk for banks," said S&P in a statement. The Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, and Toronto-Dominion Bank are rated AA-; Central 1 Credit Union is rated A+; Home Capital Group is rated BBB; Laurentian Bank of Canada is rated BBB+; and National Bank of Canada is rated A.