BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Standard & Poor's has cut Serbia's credit rating by a notch from stable to negative, and three senior central bank officials have resigned to protest a new law they say threatens the bank's independence.

The rating agency on Tuesday reduced the rating to BB-, partly because of the new nationalist-led government's decision to tighten state control over the National Bank.

Three members of the bank's Council of Governors resigned Tuesday, saying the bank's independence has been compromised.

On Monday, Parliament elected senior governing party official Jorgovanka Tabakovic as the new central bank chief.

The previous governor, Dejan Soskic, resigned last week to protest the new law, which gives governing parties the right to appoint the bank's management. That decision had been made by bank governors unaffiliated with any political party.