NEW YORK, April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for March 2013.  The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, suggests declining volume in US corporate and municipal bond issuance over the next 30-90 days. 

CUSIP requests for new US corporate equity and debt issues decreased 2.5% from February, with 1,749 new CUSIP IDs requested in the March.  The March total is up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Municipal CUSIP requests also declined on a month-over-month basis in March, with 1,184 new muni identifiers requested, versus 1219 in February 2013.  On a year-over-year basis, requests for municipal bond identifiers are down 12.6% so far in 2013. 

Internationally, debt and equity CUSIP requests have begun to advance slowly in 2013.  International equity CUSIP requests increased to 281 in March from 186 in February 2013.  International debt identifier requests also increased in March to 224 from 164 in February.  On an annualized basis, international equity CUSIP requests are down 5.8% so far in 2013 while international debt CUSIP requests are up by over 53%.

"As we close out the first quarter of 2013, it is becoming clear that U.S. issuers are starting to take a wait-and-see approach on the interest rate environment," said Richard Peterson, Director, Global Markets Intelligence, S&P Capital IQ.  "Whether this will be a temporary pause or a more clear-cut inflection point remains to be seen.  We will continue to watch the trend."

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 March 2013:

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