CUSIP Request Volume Surges for Second Straight Month, Forecasts Steady Growth in New Corporate and Municipal Bond Issuance

NEW YORK, April 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for March 2016.  The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, suggests continued growth 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 8% over February totals, with a total of 1,745 new identifiers requested over the course of March. This is the second straight monthly increase in CUSIP requests for corporate securities, following a 9% increase in February.  On a year-over-year basis, corporate CUSIP request volume was still down 16% through March 2016 versus March 2015, reflecting weak volumes in January 2016 and comparatively strong issuance volumes in the early part of 2015.

The volume of requests for new municipal CUSIP identifiers also saw a second consecutive month-to-month increase in March.  A total of 1,430 new municipal bond identifier requests were made over the course of the month, a 26% increase from February.  On a year-over-year basis, municipal bond identifier requests were down 6% in March.

Regionally, municipal bond issuers in Texas demanded the highest volume of new CUSIP identifiers in March, accounting for a total of 158 identifier requests during the month.  For the first quarter of 2016, municipal debt issuers in Texas accounted for 11% of all municipal CUSIP request volume.

"After a slow start to the year, CUSIP issuance volume has accelerated rapidly in February and March," said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services.  "Current levels of activity suggest that we'll be seeing an active pace of new security issuance throughout the spring."

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) both increased in March. Requests for new international debt CINS were up 25%, while requests for new equity CINS were up 30%.  On a year-over-year basis international debt CINS were down 40% and international equity CINS were down 54% through March 2016.

"The combination of the U.S. Federal Reserve signaling a cautious approach to rate increases and the decision by the European Central Bank to include investment-grade corporate bonds in its buying program has driven a bullish outlook for debt and equity issuers," said Richard Peterson, Senior Director, S&P Global Market Intelligence.  "While we anticipate future issuance volume to be highly sensitive to changes in monetary policy, the outlook for right now is signaling continued growth in new issuance."

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 March 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.

¹ "U.S. & Canada Corporates" totals reflect requests for both equity and debt identifiers
² "International" Debt refers to market requests for CUSIP International Numbers ("CINS") for non-U.S. debt offerings
³  "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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