CUSIP Request Volume Reaches Record High In August, Signaling Growth New Security Issuance - Municipal, Corporate Equity And Corporate Debt Pre-Market Activity Roars Back From July Slowdown

CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for August 2018. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, found across-the-board growth in monthly request volume for new municipal, corporate equity and corporate debt identifiers in August. This is suggestive of a strong pace of new security issuance.

 CUSIP identifier requests for the broad category of U.S. and Canadian corporate offerings, which includes both equity and debt, totaled 5.342 in August, the highest monthly volume of corporate CUSIP requests since CUSIP Global Services began tracking the data in 2010. August totals for corporate CUSIP request volume were up 27.3% from July. On a year-over-year basis, corporate identifier request volume through August 2018 is 3.3% higher than the same period in 2017. The monthly increase in corporate request volume was driven by a 30.6% increase in requests for corporate debt identifiers and a 32.2% increase in requests for corporate equity identifiers.

Municipal CUSIP requests also surged in August, following a significant decline in July. The aggregate total of all municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – logged a 12.0% increase over July levels. On a year-over-year basis, total municipal identifier request volume is down 14.7% versus the same period last year.

"Issuers of new securities ignored the summer doldrums in August, driving a significant month-over-month surge in CUSIP request volume in every major asset class," said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services. "The fact that this volume was so robust at a time when – seasonally speaking – we tend to see slower request volume for new CUSIPs suggests that there is a great deal of pent-up demand for new securities issuance across corporate debt and equity issuers and municipalities."

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) also increased in August. International equity CINS were up 34.5% during the month, while international debt CINS increased 8.5% during the month. On a year-over-year basis, international equity requests were up 26.3% and international debt requests were up 5.1%.

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 August 2018: