Municipal CUSIP Request Volume Climbs To Pre-Tax Cuts & Jobs Act Levels - Municipal Issuers Log Third Straight Month Of Increased Pre-Trade Activity

CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for May 2018. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, found a third straight monthly increase in requests for new municipal bond identifiers. CUSIP request volume for U.S. and international corporate securities also surged in May. This is suggestive of an increased pace of new securities issuance in the second and third quarter of 2018.

CUSIP identifier requests for the broad category of U.S. and Canadian corporate offerings, which includes both equity and debt, totaled 4,495 in May, up 3.2% from April. On a year-over-year basis, corporate identifier request volume for the first five months of 2018 is 5.7% higher than the same period in 2017. Overall corporate request volume was driven by 966 new requests for U.S. corporate equity identifiers, 898 new requests for U.S. corporate debt identifiers, and 391 requests for combined Canadian corporate debt and equity identifiers.

Municipal CUSIP requests showed a sharp surge in volume in May. The aggregate total of all municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – logged a 38.2% increase over April levels. This is the third straight month of growth in the municipal category, following on the heels of a 0.3% monthly increase in April and a 30.9% monthly increase in March. On a year-over-year basis, total municipal identifier request volume is down 19% versus the same period last year. Prior to March, municipal bond issuance had been trending downward following the implementation of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, which repeals advanced refunding of municipal bonds.

"Municipal issuers have driven CUSIP request volume to a level we haven't seen since November of last year," said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services. "The increase is likely driven by a combination of pent up demand and a desire to secure funding before the Federal Reserve raises interest rates again."

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) both increased in May. International equity CINS were up 15% during the month, while international debt CINS increased 5.7% during the month. On a year-over-year basis, international equity requests were up 29.5% and international debt requests were up 10.5%, reflecting continued volatility in international markets.

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 May 2018: