Jun. 18--WATERBURY, Conn. -- Webster Financial Corp. was one of 18 regional and national banks to have its credit rating cut Wednesday by Standard & Poor's, due in part to concerns about the severity of the recession

In all, the independent ratings agency either reduced its credit ratings or revised its outlooks on 22 U.S. banks. The action pushed the ratings of five of the banks -- Carolina First Bank, Citizens Republic Bancorp, Huntington Bancshares, Synovus Financial and Whitney Holding -- from investment-grade levels into junk territory.

BB&T Corp., Capital One Financial Corp., Regions Financial Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. were among the largest banks to see their ratings cut.

The agency lowered its rating of Webster to BBB- from BBB. It also cut its rating of Webster's main subsidiary, Webster Bank N.A., to BBB/A-2 from BBB+/A-2 and listed its outlooks for both the company and the subsidiary as "negative."

"S&P's action today affected 22 banks and reflects the impact of the recession on the banking industry," Webster spokesman Edward P. Steadham said.

"This action by S&P puts Webster's rating where it was in January 2006," Steadham said. "Webster remains investment grade and the one-notch downgrade compares favorably with the average downgrade of two notches recorded among this group of banks since 2007."

He added that "Webster continues to exceed all regulatory capital requirements by significant measures."

The ratings cut comes about five weeks after S&P placed Webster on its "CreditWatch Negative" list, indicting the institution could have its ratings downgraded pending a further review of the financial services industry.

Lower credit ratings make it more expensive for companies to borrow money, and sometimes can lead to difficulty accessing credit. Low ratings also may affect investments in a company's debt, as some institutional investors are prevented from holding debt rated below a certain level.

S&P said Webster's ratings were downgraded following a review of the U.S. banking industry in which the agency reevaluated its expectations for industry loan losses.

"The downgrade reflects Webster Financial Corp.'s asset-quality deterioration to date and our expectation that non-performing assets will continue to rise in the severe recession," S&P said in its report on the Waterbury-based company.