Corporate CUSIP Request Volumes Rise In December, Topping 2020 Volume - Municipal Volumes End Year 5.8% Lower Than 2020 Totals

CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for December 2021. 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 identifiers and a decrease in volume for municipal identifier requests.

Requests for new corporate identifiers rose in December, helping total corporate CUSIP request volume edge higher in 2021 versus the previous year. CUSIP identifier requests for the broad category of U.S. and Canadian corporate equity and debt rose 11.9% versus November totals. The increase was driven largely by a surge in requests for U.S. medium-term notes (MTNs). On a year-over-year basis, corporate CUSIP request volume rose 3.8% versus full year 2020 totals.

Monthly municipal volume declined in December. The aggregate total of all municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – fell 10.6% versus November totals. On an annualized basis, total municipal CUSIP identifier request volumes were down 5.8% versus 2020 totals. Texas led state-level municipal request volume with a total of 106 new CUSIP requests in December, followed by New York with 84 and California with 81.

"Although municipal request volume has slowed year-over-year, we've still seen an incredibly strong appetite for new issuance among equity and debt market participants in 2021," said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CGS. "The combination of a favorable interest rate environment and relatively healthy markets suggests this trend will continue through the early part of the New Year."

Requests for international equity and debt CUSIPs both declined in December. International equity CUSIP requests were down 1.6% versus November. International debt CUSIPs were down 43.8% on a monthly basis.

To view the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report for December, click here.

Following is a breakdown of new CUSIP Identifier requests by asset class year-to-date through December 2021:

Note to the editor: On December 27, 2021, FactSet reached a definitive agreement to acquire CUSIP Global Services from S&P Global. Please see the press release for more information.