U.S. Corporate And Municipal Debt Issuance Poised to Climb, CUSIP Data Shows

Municipal bond requests also surged in August, climbing 7% after experiencing a significant decline in July. Total requests for new municipal bond identifiers reached 1,306 in August, marking a return to the strong pace of new CUSIP activity among municipal issuers.  On a year-over-year basis, CUSIP requests for new municipal bond identifiers was up 3.4% through August.

Texas continued to lead the way among individual municipal bond issuers, reaching a total of 1,414 new CUSIP ID requests so far this year.  Texas was followed by New York State, with 1,093, and then California, with 836.

“Outside of a few seasonal and market-driven blips in request volume, we’ve continued to see incredibly strong demand for CUSIP identifiers for new securities so far this year,” said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services. “Based on the August data, we expect to see a sustained pace of new security issuance through the next several months.”

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) volume was mixed in August.  International equity CINS fell 6%, while international debt CINS increased 8% during the month. On a year-over-year basis, international equity requests were down 59% and international debt requests were down 23%.

“Though we continue to see ongoing economic and political instability on a global basis, overall CUSIP request volume is suggesting a fairly robust pace of new issuance as we exit the summer doldrums,” said Richard Peterson, Senior Director, S&P Global Market Intelligence. “This metric will continue to be a fascinating indicator of overall issuer sentiment as we head into the U.S. election and wrestle with ongoing debate over the future of monetary policy around the world.”

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 2016: