Fitch: EFSF's rating tied to France, Germany

LONDON (MarketWatch)
Fitch Ratings said Tuesday that the ability of the European Financial Stability Facility to retain its triple-A credit rating was largely contingent upon France and Germany keeping their triple-A status.
In a statement, Fitch said: "We affirmed France's 'AAA' status [on Friday] but warned that there is a slightly greater than 50% chance of a downgrade within the next year or two.
This is therefore also the case for the 'AAA' ratings assigned to the EFSF's debt issues, unless additional credit enhancement mechanisms are introduced."
Fitch said that the change in the French outlook was not something that could be reflected in its assessment of the EFSF.
Markets across Europe are watching closely for any changes to the credit ratings of EU countries after Belgium was downgraded on Friday and several ratings firms have recently warned of potential sovereign downgrades.