Second Straight Month of Declining Municipal Identifier Request Volume
NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for August 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 decline in request volume for new municipal debt identifiers, while requests for new corporate identifiers were roughly flat from last month to this month.
CUSIP identifier requests for the broad category of U.S. and Canadian equity and debt totaled 4,101 in August, up 0.37 % from last month. On a year-over-year basis, corporate CUSIP requests are up 4.7%. August volumes were driven by a 2.8% monthly increase in requests for corporate debt identifiers and a 7.6% monthly increase in requests for identifiers for certificates of deposit with maturities longer than one year.
Municipal volumes slowed for a second straight month in August. The aggregate total of all municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – fell 11.8% versus July totals. On an annualized basis, municipal CUSIP identifier request volumes are up 8.9% through August.
“Corporate and municipal debt issuers continued to access liquidity at a healthy pace throughout the COVID-19 crisis, which is why we’re seeing strong year-over-year CUSIP request volume across several asset classes,” said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CGS. “Over the last two months, however, that pace has slowed – particularly in the municipal market, where we’re seeing a second straight month of slowing CUSIP request volume. Given the highly publicized funding needs of municipalities, this is a trend we’re going to watch closely.”
Requests for international equity and debt CUSIPs were mixed in August. International equity CUSIP requests were up 15% versus July. International debt CUSIPs decreased 19.8% on a monthly basis.
To view the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report for August, click here.