LONDON, England - January 24, 2012 - Two of France's largest banks have been downgraded by Standard & Poor's as the ratings agency followed up on its earlier downgrade of the country's sovereign rating.

Credit Agricole and Société Generale had their credit ratings cut from A+ with a stable outlook to A, while state bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations had its rating cut from AAA to AA+.

BNP Paribas, France's largest bank by market capitalization and one of the largest financial groups in the eurozone, had its credit rating left unchanged.

S&P's actions follow its stripping France of its AAA rating nearly two weeks ago, as it downgraded several major eurozone countries, including Austria, Italy and Spain.

"The downgrade of some of these banks follows the downgrade of France," S&P said in a statement.

Before the sovereign downgrade, S&P factored two notches of government support into the ratings of the banks, however after cutting the country's rating the level of support was reduced to one notch.

Shares in Société General, France's second largest bank by market capitalization, closed down 1.2% at 21.57 euros on Tuesday. Credit Agricole, which is France's third largest bank, saw its shares fall 4.1% to close at 5 euros.

Société Generale said it was unsurprised by S&P's decision and had been expecting its credit rating to be cut ever since France's sovereign downgrade.

"This downgrade is a direct consequence of the methodology used by S&P, which builds into our rating an element of systemic support by the French state, whose own sovereign rating has recently been cut," said the bank in a statement.