Liquidity has been the one variable keeping the world’s central bankers awake at night, and they’ve been doing everything in their power to ensure market participants have access to capital. As a result, corporate borrowers tapped the securities market en masse in April to ensure their entities continue to receive much-needed liquidity. CUSIP Global Services data shows that identifier requests for corporate and municipal securities increased last month, with request volumes for each of those sectors jumping by at least 12% month over month.

CUSIP identifier requests for the broad category of U.S.- and Canada-issued equity and debt totaled 6,350 in April, up 12.1% from March and 28.8% versus the same period in 2019. The increase in volume was driven largely by a 12.3% monthly increase in requests for new U.S. corporate debt identifiers. CGS also saw a significant 10.4% monthly increase in requests for bank certificates of deposit with maturities greater than one year. Requests for new U.S. corporate equity identifiers fell 10.1% from March to April.

Municipal CUSIP request volume also increased sharply in April after declining in March. The aggregate total of all municipal securities – including municipal bonds, long-term and short-term notes, and commercial paper – climbed 12.6% versus March's figure. On an annualized basis, municipal ID request volumes are up 7.8% through April.

Among top state issuers, Texas, New York and California were the most active in April.

Requests for international equity and debt CUSIPs both declined in April. International equity CUSIP requests decreased 11.5% versus March and 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. International debt CUSIPs decreased 17.8% on a monthly basis and increased 10.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Based on CUSIP request volume for April, it is clear that corporate and municipal borrowers see an opportunity to raise new capital and they are getting into position to access the debt markets.

To see all April CUSIP request volumes by asset class, access the full report. Sign up here to receive our monthly Issuance Trends reports as soon as they're released.