The global securities finance industry generated US$890 million in revenue for lenders in January, representing a 27 per cent year-over-year rise and a 5 per cent month-on-month growth, according to DataLend.
The market data service of fintech EquiLend reports that global broker-to-broker activity — where broker-dealers lend and borrow securities from each other — totalled an additional US$248 million in revenue for January 2023, a 30 per cent rise YoY.
Improvements in lender-to-broker revenue over the course of 2022 was driven primarily by a surge in North America, which saw a 36 per cent YoY increase.
Performance in North America was strong across asset classes, with equities up 41 per cent and fixed income rising by 21 per cent.
Borrow rates in the equity market were largely responsible for the overall improvement in revenue, says DataLend, with fees climbing YoY in North America and EMEA by 30 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively.
Corporate debt registered 61 per cent revenue growth compared to January 2022. Fees were the biggest driver with a 60 per cent YoY increase for corporates.
APAC securities were nearly flat with a half-percentage point decline in revenue YoY. While fees dipped 11 per cent, an inverse increase of 11 per cent in balances offset the decrease in loan prices, says DataLend.
The top five earners in January 2023 were AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), Lucid Group (LCID), Beyond Meat Inc (BYND), GameStop Corporation (GME) and MicroStrategy (MSTR).
The five securities in total generated nearly US$125 million in revenue in January and US$42 million more than the December top five.
