Standard & Poor's, the credit ratings agency, has cut the rating outlook of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) after the Italian bank wrote off the value of its investments in Argentina.

BNL, which is yet to announce its full-year results for 2001, said on Friday it would write down its investments in the Latin American country to zero, incurring a cost of €527m ($460.1m) that will significantly impact the bank's profits.