NORWALK, Conn., March 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for February 2023. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity over the next quarter, found a second straight monthly increase in request volume for new corporate identifiers and a slowdown in request volume for new municipal identifiers.
North American corporate requests totaled 6,348 in February, which is up 6.1% on a monthly basis. On a year-over-year basis, North American corporate requests closed out February up 24.5% over year ago totals. The increase in corporate CUSIP request volume was driven largely by a significant surge in domestic corporate debt issuance, which rose 14.0% over strong January totals, driving year-over-year volumes up 42.4%. This was the second straight month of significantly increased volume in corporate debt CUSIP request volume. Certificate of Deposit (CD) volumes also rose this month. Longer-term CDs, with maturities of one year or more climbed 44.8% and short-term CDs, with maturities under one year, were up 6.5% versus last month.
Municipal request volume decreased on both a monthly and annualized basis. The aggregate total of identifier requests for new municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – fell 3.1% versus January totals. On a year-over-year basis, overall municipal volumes are down 23.5%. Texas led state-level municipal request volume with a total of 96 new CUSIP requests in February, followed by New York (57) and Wisconsin (45).
“Rising rates throughout the month of February did not stop corporate bond issuers from issuing new debt at a rapid clip,” said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CGS. “We’re seeing the second straight month of strong request volume among corporate issuers and—less surprisingly—we’re seeing a sustained level of high volume in CDs, which are driving year-over-year gains in corporate CUSIP volumes. The same cannot be said for the municipal bond market, where new request volume has been trending down so far this year.”
Requests for international equity CUSIPs fell 24.8% in February while international debt CUSIP requests rose 31.1%. On an annualized basis, international equity CUSIP requests are down 8.8% and international debt CUSIP requests are down 42.5%.
To view the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report for February, please click here.
Following is a breakdown of new CUSIP Identifier requests by asset class year-to-date through February 2023:
| Asset Class | 2023 YTD | 2022 YTD | YOY Change | |
| CDs < 1-year Maturity | 1,982 | 367 | 440.1 | % |
| CDs > 1-year Maturity | 1,422 | 948 | 50.0 | % |
| U.S. Corporate Debt | 3,612 | 2,537 | 42.4 | % |
| Long-Term Municipal Notes | 52 | 45 | 15.6 | % |
| Short-Term Municipal Notes | 92 | 83 | 10.8 | % |
| Syndicated Loans | 299 | 283 | 5.7 | % |
| International Equity | 268 | 294 | -8.8 | % |
| Canada Corporate Debt & Equity | 767 | 843 | -9.0 | % |
| U.S. Corporate Equity | 1,510 | 2,029 | -25.6 | % |
| Municipal Bonds | 1,177 | 1,641 | -28.3 | % |
| Private Placement Securities | 457 | 682 | -33.0 | % |
| International Debt | 439 | 763 | -42.5 | % |
About CUSIP Global Services
The financial services industry relies on CGS’ unrivaled experience in uniquely identifying instruments and entities to support efficient global capital markets. Its extensive focus on standardization over the past 50 years has helped CGS earn its reputation as a trusted originator of quality identifiers and descriptive data, ensuring that essential front- and back-office functions run smoothly. Relied upon worldwide as the industry standard provider of reliable, timely reference data, CGS is also a founding member and co-operates the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) Service Bureau, a global security and entity identifier database for over 34 million public and privately traded instruments, contributed by 91 national numbering agencies and 25 partner agencies representing 120 different countries. CGS is managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association (ABA) by FactSet Research Systems Inc., with a Board of Trustees that represents the voices of leading financial institutions. For more information, visit www.cusip.com.
About The American Bankers Association
The American Bankers Association represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the voice for the nation’s $13 trillion banking industry and its 2 million employees. Learn more at www.aba.com.
For More Information:
John Roderick
john@jroderick.com
+1 (631) 584.2200
