NEW YORK (AP) — Moody's Investors Service has lowered some of the debt ratings for Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc., saying it is now less likely that the U.S. government would step in and prevent the lenders from failing in a crisis.

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The ratings firm said Wednesday that it believes the government is likely to provide some level of support for financial institutions, but is also more likely now than during the 2008 financial crisis to allow a large bank to fail should it become financially troubled.

Moody's downgraded long-term debt ratings for Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank N.A., and cut BofA's short-term rating and Bank of America N.A.'s long-term deposit rating.

The firm confirmed Citigroup's long-term rating, but downgraded its short-term rating.