Major insurers hit by credit rating warning

The credit rating agency said that for European insurance groups it could lower their current ratings by one notch.

It added that the negative watch was due to "the aggregate effects of exposure to eurozone sovereign debt, related bank debt and deposits, the resulting potential impact on capital adequacy, and the impact of the expected slowdown in economic activity in the eurozone."

S&P also noted that the rating actions will, in their turn, affect certain holding companies' "core and