Some banks in the UK could see their ratings slashed by credit rating agency Moody's Investor Services.
Moody's, which provides data and analytic tools for assessing credit risk, is starting to wind down the bailout programme for the UK and plans to phase out "extraordinary support assumptions" over the next three years.
Debt ratings of a selection of banks in the UK over the last 18 months were higher than normal as they were supported by the assumption the government could bail out the banks if they needed support, Moody's explained.
It is these assumptions that have resulted in the ratings of banks such as Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland being at a higher level than normal.
The agency said: "As the UK financial sector slowly emerges from the recent crisis, the extraordinary support from which the country's banking system has benefited is likely to be gradually withdrawn."
Senior credit officer at the firm Elisabeth Rudman expects the ratings of the banks will only change once the government reduces its ownership stakes in them.
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