NEW YORK, June 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for May 2014.  The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, suggests an increase in new U.S. securities issuance and a slowdown in international issuance through the second quarter of 2014.

Total CUSIP requests for new U.S. and Canadian corporate equity and debt issues posted a 7% monthly increase in May versus April, with a total of 4,083 new identifiers requested over the course of the month, the strongest single month performance of the year.  On a year-over-year basis, May's corporate CUSIP request volume was up 2.9%.

Municipal CUSIP volume continued to climb for the fourth straight month in May, with a 21.9% increase over April totals.  A total of 1,239 municipal bond IDs were requested in May, the best showing so far in 2014. The largest volume of new municipal bond ID requests for the month was driven by Texas and New York. Still, despite these increases, municipal identifier demand is down 26% on a year-over-year basis.

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) requests declined this month after several steady months of increasing volumes.  Total requests for new international equity CINS fell 18.5% and international debt CINS requests fell 2.5% from April to May.  On a year-over-year basis, international equity requests are still up 55.4% and international debt CUSIP requests are up 13.7% in 2014.

"With the market recovery now well underway in the U.S., corporate and municipal issuers are clearly taking advantage of the still favorable interest rate environment to access the capital markets," said Richard Peterson, Director, Global Markets Intelligence, S&P Capital IQ.  "Internationally, we're still seeing hiccups in monthly volumes that indicate a lingering sense of uncertainty among 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 herehttp://link.videoplatform.limelight.com/media/?mediaId=8550c355463448379b73f9bb548cde83&width=480&height=321&playerForm=Player.

Following is a breakdown of new CUSIP identifier requests by asset class year-to-date through May 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
The financial services industry relies on our unrivaled experience in uniquely identifying instruments and entities to support efficient global capital markets. Our extensive focus on standardization over the past 45 years has helped us earn the reputation for being the trusted originator of quality identifiers and descriptive data, ensuring that essential front- and back-office functions run smoothly.  CGS is managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association (ABA) by S&P Capital IQ, with a Board of Trustees that represents the voices of leading financial institutions. 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  "International" Debt refers to market requests for CUSIP International Numbers ("CINS") for non-U.S. debt offerings

³  "U.S. & Canada Corporates" totals reflect requests for both equity and debt identifiers

⁴  Private Placement Note identifiers are assigned for non-public instruments purchased by insurance companies

SOURCE CUSIP Global Services