The European Central Bank's continued provision of three-year loans could lead euro-zone banks to become more reliant on ECB funding, which would be a credit-negative development, Moody's Investors Service said Monday. Writing in Moody's Weekly Credit Outlook, Senior Research Analyst Tobias Moerschen acknowledged that ECB action reduced the risk of defaults due to illiquidity and supported banks' ability to lend, so avoiding a negative-feedback loop of increased deleveraging and worsening asset quality. But Moerschen noted that banks faced serious challenges that central-bank policy was unable to address. Weakening ... (full story)