NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for January 2014.  The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, suggests a mixed bag of new issuance volume as we make our way into the first quarter of 2014.

Total CUSIP requests for new U.S. and Canadian corporate equity and debt issues posted a 3% monthly gain in January 2014 over December 2013, with a total of 2,071 new identifiers requested over the course of the first month of the year.  On a year-over-year basis, January's corporate CUSIP request volume was up 8.3%.

Municipal CUSIP continued to slide in January, down to 762 new requests in the month, compared with 874 in December 2014.  This was the sixth time in the past seven months that municipal CUSIP request volume failed to hit the 1,000 mark.  On a year-over-year basis, requests for new muni identifiers is down 23.4% versus January 2013. 

Internationally, debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) requests, have been mixed so far in 2014.  While international equity CUSIP requests increased 70% from December to January, international debt CUSIP requests decreased 18.3% over the same period.

"Sentiment surrounding new security issuance reflects the overall sense of uncertainty that is prevalent in today's capital markets," said Richard Peterson, Director, Global Markets Intelligence, S&P Capital IQ.  "While the appetite for new U.S. corporate issuance remains strong, significant declines in municipal bond and international debt ID request volume underscore a 'wait-and-see' sensibility among many issuers."

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 January 2014:

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

[2] "U.S. & Canada Corporates" totals reflect requests for both equity and debt identifiers

[3] Private Placement Note identifiers are assigned for non-public instruments purchased by insurance companies

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

SOURCE CUSIP Global Services