CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for March 2026. 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 monthly increase in request volume for new corporate and municipal identifiers.
North American corporate CUSIP requests totaled 8,220 in March, which represents an 11.7% increase on a monthly basis. On an annualized basis, North American corporate requests were up 9.8% over March 2025 totals. Requests for new U.S. corporate equity identifiers rose 3.9% and requests for new U.S. corporate debt identifiers climbed 9.4% for the month of March.
The aggregate total of identifier requests for new municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – rose 8.7% versus February totals. On a year-over-year basis, overall municipal volumes were up 1.3% through the end of March. Texas led state-level municipal request volume with a total of 97 new CUSIP requests in March, followed by California (96) and New York (92).
“We’ve seen steady increases in CUSIP request volume across several major asset classes through the first quarter of 2026,” said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CGS. “This heightened pre-market activity, particularly in equity markets, suggests issuers are gearing up to access capital markets in a significant way over the course of this year.”
Requests for international equity CUSIPs rose 11.0% in March and international debt CUSIP requests were flat. On an annualized basis, international equity CUSIP requests were up 13.6% and international debt CUSIP requests were up 16.6%.
To view the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report for March, please click here.
Following is a breakdown of new CUSIP Identifier requests by asset class year-to-date through March 2026:
| Asset Class | 2026 YTD | 2025 YTD | YOY Change |
| Private Placement Securities | 1,444 | 1,123 | 28.6% |
| Long-Term Municipal Notes | 117 | 100 | 17.0% |
| International Debt | 2,091 | 1,793 | 16.6% |
| U.S. Corporate Equity | 3,632 | 3,115 | 16.6% |
| International Equity |
493 | 434 | 13.6% |
| Short-Term Municipal Notes | 201 | 192 | 4.7% |
| CDs < 1-year Maturity | 2,308 | 2,216 | 4.2% |
| Syndicated Loans | 716 | 700 | 2.3% |
| CDs > 1-year Maturity | 1,768 | 1,803 | -1.9% |
| Municipal Bonds | 2,175 | 2,258 | -3.7% |
| U.S. Corporate Debt | 7,432 | 8,518 | -12.7% |
| Canada Corporate Debt & Equity | 1,353 | 1,693 | -20.1% |
