Fitch Ratings on Tuesday said that German banks' exposure to Greece would result in only a limited number of potential rating actions even in the unlikely scenario that Greece were to default. The Issuer Default Ratings of most of the banks exposed to Greece or Greek entities are based on Fitch's view of likely state support rather than standalone credit risk, the rating agency said.

Michael Dawson-Kropf, Senior Director in Fitch's Financial Institutions team in Frankfurt said, "German banks' exposure to Greece is relatively small in relation to the German banking system's aggregated balance sheet and capital."

According to Fitch estimates, German banks' exposure to Greek sovereign, local government, bank and corporate debt at the financial year end of 2009 amounted to less than EUR 35 billion. More than 50% of the banks' recorded exposure is to the Greek sovereign, local governments or public sector entities.