Atradius Trade Credit Insurance’s instability in the midst of the credit crisis has contributed to its newly assigned “negative” rating from a key ratings service.

The Baltimore, Md.-based ATCI and its subsidiary saw their financial strength rating lowered to “A-“ and their issuer credit rating reduced to “a-“ in a recent assessment by the credit rating organization A.M. Best Co.

ATCI’s ratings reflect problems resulting from the credit crisis and its dependence on its struggling international group, the ratings service said in a statement. In addition to the global financial challenges confronting its group members in Spain and the Netherlands, there was a substantial drop in ATCI’s risk-adjusted capitalization, driven by high frequency of losses, reduced premiums, adverse development and lower ceding commissions, according to A.M. Best.

A.M. Best cited concern about the continued pressure on underwriting profitability and surplus related to the constraining effects of a protracted recession as a consideration in its downgrade of ATCI’s status from “stable” to “negative.”