CUSIP Global Services (CGS) released its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for January 2020. 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
significant year-over-year surge in request volume for new corporate and municipal identifiers.
On a monthly basis, however, CUSIP request volume trended down in January across most major asset classes.
CUSIP identifier requests for the broad category of U.S.- and Canada-issued equity and debt totaled 4,328 in January, up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis, driven by a 54.6% surge in requests for new U.S. corporate debt identifiers. On a month-over-month basis, however, request volume in the corporate sector was down 2.9% from December 2019 totals, dragged down by declines in requests for short- and longterm certificates of deposit and Canadian corporate securities.
Municipal CUSIP requests followed a similar pattern, with year-over-year request volume for the aggregate total of all municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – rising 26.6% versus January 2019. However, total municipal CUSIP request volume for January 2020 was down 5.5% compared to December 2019.
“So far this year, we’re starting to see pockets of very strong CUSIP request volume emerge in specific asset classes, most notably in corporate debt,” said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services. “There is some volatility in the data, however, with other asset classes such as international debt and equity and some municipal categories still making big month-to-month moves.”
Requests for new international debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) were mixed in January. International equity CUSIP requests decreased 9.9% vs. January 2019, but increased 10.5% on a month-over-month basis. International debt CUSIPs climbed 66.3% on a year-over-year basis, and 62.4% on a month-over-month basis.
To view the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report for January, please click here.
Following is a breakdown of new CUSIP Identifier requests by asset class year-to-date through January 2020:
Asset Class 2020 YTD 2019 YTD YOY Change
International Debt 346 208 66.3%
Municipal Bonds 879 650 35.2%
U.S. & Canada
Corporates
2,340 1,896 23.4%
Short-Term Municipal
Notes
89 83 7.2%
International Equity 73 81 -9.9%
CDs > 1-year Maturity 460 628 -26.8%
CDs < 1-year Maturity 507 725 -30.1%
Private Placement
Securities
227 344 -34.0%
Long-Term Municipal
Notes 16 32 -50.0%
