ERIC THAYER
As Spanish banks waver, financial institutions around the world are beginning to feel early effects.
The cost of insuring against default by a U.S. bank or investment house has been rising as the European credit crisis spreads beyond Greece.
Five-year credit default swaps for the six big banks and brokers in the U.S. have risen since the end of the first quarter, signalling a worsening perception of credit quality.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. have the lowest default risk but they have seen the biggest spikes since the second quarter began. JP Morgan's default risk is up the most at 52 per cent and Wells Fargo's is up 46 per cent.
Bespoke Investment Group has compiled charts of each financial institution's CDS prices, which are creeping back up to the high points hit last fall.
Morgan Stanley has the highest CDS price, followed by Goldman Sachs , Bank of America and Citigroup .