CUSIP Data Forecasts Surge in U.S. Corporate and Muni Debt Issuance

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for October 2016. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, found continued growth in the pre-trade market for corporate securities and municipal bonds.

CUSIP identifier requests for U.S. corporate debt and equity offerings totaled 1,818 in October, a 2% increase over September totals.  The growth was driven in large part by a surge in requests for new corporate debt offerings, which reached a 15-month high of 899.   On a year-over-year basis, corporate debt and equity CUSIP requests for the Americas was down 3% through October.

Municipal bond requests also climbed in October, reaching a 4-month high of 1,368, which is up 7% from September levels.  This was enough to drive year-over-year CUSIP request volume in the municipal bond category to an 8% increase over the same period in 2015. Texas, New York and California were the most active municipal bond issuers so far this year.

"October was notable for the strong volume of new CUSIP requests we received, but also for the record dollar value of bond offerings that were made over the course of the month," said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services. "Clearly, we're seeing a market environment in which debt issuers find it favorable to issue a large number of significant deals and our data supports that trend continuing into the near-term future."

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) volume were mixed in October.  International equity CINS decreased 32%, while international debt CINS increased 14% during the month. On a year-over-year basis, international equity requests were down 51% and international debt requests were down 9%, reflecting a volatile year of new instrument issuance activity in international markets.

"A number of factors are at play in this data. In addition to the overall favorable lending environment, we're also seeing significant M&A deal volume, which is increasing the demand for new debt instruments to finance those transactions," said Richard Peterson, Senior Director, S&P Global Market Intelligence. "This combination of low interest rates and relatively robust capital markets activity should create a recipe for strong security issuance volumes as we head into 2017."

To view a copy of the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report, please click here.  

Following is a breakdown of New CUSIP Identifier requests by asset class year-to-date, through October 2016:

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 45 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 92 national numbering agencies and 27 partner agencies representing 255 different countries. CGS is managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association (ABA) by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 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.

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¹  "International" Equity refers to market requests for CUSIP International Numbers ("CINS") for non-U.S. equity offerings

SOURCE CUSIP Global Services

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