CUSIP Request Volume Grows in February, Forecasts Reawakening of Corporate and Municipal Bond Issuance

NEW YORK, March 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for February 2016.  The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, suggests a resurgence in issuance of new corporate and municipal debt offerings over the next several weeks.

Total CUSIP requests for new U.S. and Canadian corporate equity increased 9% over January totals, with a total of 1,619 new identifiers requested over the course of February.  On a year-over-year basis, corporate CUSIP request volume was still down 12% for February 2016 versus February 2015, reflecting weak volumes in January 2016.

The volume of requests for new municipal CUSIP identifiers also saw month-to-month increase in February.  A total of 1,137 new municipal bond identifier requests were made over the course of the month, a 25% increase from January.  On a year-over-year basis, municipal bond identifier requests were down 9% in February.

Regionally, municipal bond issuers in Texas demanded the highest volume of new CUSIP identifiers in February, accounting for a total of 139 identifier requests during the month.

"In our last CUSIP Issuance Trends report, we suggested that the mix of activity we were seeing to start the year was indicative of volatility among corporate and municipal issuers," said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services.  "Accordingly, the numbers for February have swung in the complete opposite direction.  With the interest rate situation still touchy in the U.S. and incredibly uncertain in Europe, we expect that volatility to continue through the first half of the year."

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) saw mixed results in February. Requests for new international debt CINS were flat, while requests for new equity CINS were up 24%.  On a year-over-year basis international debt CINS were down 35% and international equity CINS were down 58% through February 2016. 

"After starting the year with a decidedly risk averse approach to underwriting, issuers of new corporate securities and municipal debt have increased the pace of new issuance activity significantly in February," said Richard Peterson, Senior Director, S&P Global Market Intelligence.  "Despite the monthly growth, however, year-over-year CUSIP request totals are still down across most asset classes, so it remains to be seen whether this is a monthly blip, or if issuers are starting to come back to the markets in force."

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 February 2016:

About CUSIP Global Services

The financial services industry relies on our unrivaled experience in uniquely identifying instruments and entities to support efficient global capital markets. Our extensive focus on standardization over the past 45 years has helped us earn the reputation for being the 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 25 million publicly trade instruments, contributed by 89 national numbering agencies and 27 partner agencies representing 123 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.

SOURCE CUSIP Global Services