NEW YORK, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for February 2013.  The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, suggests strong volume in US corporate and municipal bond issuance over the next 30-90 days. 

CUSIP requests for new US corporate equity and debt issues increased 12.5% year-over-year in February 2013, with 1,7194 new CUSIP IDs requested in the month.  The February total is up 4.4% on a month-to-month basis from the January 2013 total of 1,719 new CUSIP ID requests.

Municipal CUSIP requests grew on a month-over-month basis in February, with 1,219 new muni identifiers requested, versus 995 in January 2013.  However, on a year-over-year basis, requests for municipal bond identifiers are down 2.4% so far in 2013. 

Internationally, debt and equity CUSIP requests have begun to show signs of softness in early 2013.  International equity CUSIP requests fell to 186 from 231 in January 2013.  International debt identifier requests also fell in February to 164 from 220 in February.  On an annualized basis, international equity CUSIP requests are down 9% so far in 2013 while international debt CUSIP requests are up by nearly 78%.

"Consistent with the US recovery amid record low interest rates, domestic firms are cranking up their capital markets engines in Q1 and Q2," said Richard Peterson, Director, Global Markets Intelligence, S&P Capital IQ.  "The story is less clear-cut in Europe, where economic tensions are still flaring up and corporate issuers have been more cautious about new capital markets expansion."

To view a copy of the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report, please click here.

To view a video commentary of this month's CUSIP Issuance Trends with Richard Peterson, please click here. 

Following is a breakdown of new CUSIP identifier requests by asset class year-to-date through February 2012:

The CUSIP Global Services trends report is issued to the marketplace on a monthly basis.   For more information, please visit www.cusip.com. 

About CUSIP Global Services
For 40 years CUSIP Global Services has provided a unique common language for identifying financial instruments across institutions, exchanges and nations, enabling financial services firms to benefit from improved operating efficiencies and substantially reduced administrative costs. CUSIP Global Services is operated by the CUSIP Service Bureau (CSB). CSB is managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association by S&P Capital IQ. For more information, visit www.cusip.com.

About The American Bankers Association
The American Bankers Association represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the voice for the nation's $13 trillion banking industry and its 2 million employees.  Learn more at www.aba.com.

¹ "International" Debt refers to market requests for CUSIP International Numbers ("CINS") for non-U.S. debt offerings

² "International" Equity refers to market requests for CUSIP International Numbers ("CINS") for non-U.S. equity offerings

SOURCE CUSIP Global Services