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The global securities finance revenue was down by a fifth in February from the $803 million generated in January, according to DataLend.
EquiLend’s market data division published a report showing that despite the 21.4 per cent dip, the industry generated $631 million in revenue for lenders in February 2021 — a 4.2 per cent year-on-year increase from $606 million.
Global lender revenue was largely driven by North American equities, which was 13.7 per cent higher than February 2020. This contrasts with the Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific regions, which both saw declines of 16.3 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively in equity revenue compared to February 2020.
The top five securities — including GameStop — generated over $80.6 million in revenue in February. Others in the top five, Dupont De Nemours and International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), provided an early boost in revenue as Dupont’s exchange offer for shares in IFF carried over into February. This corporate event meant the combined revenue generated exceeded $42.4 million.
Global broker-to-broker activity totaled an additional $283 million in revenue in February, an 8.9 per cent increase on the same month last year.
Elsewhere, global revenue generated from government debt saw a 20.7 per cent increase for fixed income securities, while revenue generated from corporate debt saw a decrease of 21 per cent despite on-loan balances increasing by 17 per cent this year.
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