FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) announced the termination of three executives including its CEO following its determination that they violated company policies and its code of conduct. The company also indicated that it is reevaluating its internal controls framework, which could include identifying one or more material weaknesses. We are downgrading FE and its subsidiaries including its issuer credit rating to 'BB+' from 'BBB'. We also lowered our issuer credit rating on Allegheny Generating Co. to 'BB' from 'BBB-'. At the same time, we lowered the senior unsecured issue level rating on FE and FirstEnergy Transmission to 'BB+' from 'BBB-' and assigned our '3' recovery ratings, indicating meaningful (50% to 70%; rounded estimate: 65%) recovery in the event of a payment default.