Wells Fargo on Tuesday lost the bragging rights to a top notch triple A rating when Moody’s downgraded the west coast lender after the completion of its $15bn ­takeover of stricken rival Wachovia.

Analysts said that Moody’s decision to lower the ratings of Wells’ US banking subsidiary by two notches was less important to the company’s funding costs than the downgrade in the parent company’s debt rating from Aa1 to Aa3.