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2005
      Complete report (14 KB PDF) Medium-term notes 
        (MTNs) outstanding at the end of 2005 totaled $713 billion, up from $639 
        billion in 2004 (table 1). Outstandings for financial corporations accounted 
        for about 90 percent of total outstandings in 2005 and continued to trend 
        up, increasing $81 billion. The largest increase in outstanding MTNs among 
        financial corporations--more than $30 billion--was at non-auto 
        finance companies; the second-largest increase, $25 billion, was in the 
        "other" category, which consists of insurance and real estate firms and 
        miscellaneous investing institutions. Most other financial sectors also 
        showed an increase in MTNs outstanding; the exceptions were the auto finance 
        and commercial bank sectors. In contrast, outstandings for nonfinancial 
        corporations decreased $7.5 billion, and the decline continues the downward 
        trend from the peak in 1999. Among nonfinancial corporations, the levels 
        of outstandings declined for most categories. However, service companies 
        and transportation, mining, and construction companies were the two categories 
        that experienced slight increases.Despite the overall increase in outstandings, the total number of MTN 
        programs continued to shrink in 2005, falling to 413, the lowest number 
        since 1996 (table 2). The number of financial MTN programs fell slightly, 
        from 198 in 2004 to 192 in 2005, mostly because of decreases in the numbers 
        of programs at commercial banks and other financial institutions. In contrast 
        to the broad trend, asset-backed MTN programs have continued to grow. 
        The number of nonfinancial MTN programs fell to a record low of 221 in 
        2005, a sharp drop from 242 in 2004. The number of MTN programs for manufacturing 
        dropped from 86 in 2004 to 76 in 2005, the largest decline among all the 
        categories. Other notable program decreases, at 5 each, occurred in the 
        categories for telephone and communication and for electric, gas, and 
        water.The vast majority of total MTNs outstanding continued to be rated investment-grade--that 
        is, those rated BBB or higher (table 3). In 2005, AAA-rated MTNs outstanding 
        jumped $54 billion, and AA-rated MTNs outstanding rose $28 billion. Largely 
        because of the downgrade in rating status of a large financial issuer 
        from A to BB, outstandings of A-rated programs fell $53 billion and outstandings 
        of BB-rated MTNs jumped $31 billion. Outstandings of speculative-grade 
        MTNs (those rated BB or lower and those not rated) rose $40 billion. Outstandings 
        by rating status for financial corporations closely resembled the pattern 
        for overall outstandings, while those for nonfinancial corporations declined 
        slightly for most rating groups.Gross issuance of MTNs edged down from a robust $295 billion in 2004 
        to $285 billion in 2005 (table 4), mainly because of a slowdown of issuance 
        by financial corporations. Issuance by securities brokers dropped $20 
        billion in 2005, and issuance by automobile and other finance companies 
        fell $15 billion collectively. The decreases were partly offset by increases 
        in issuance by commercial banks, asset-backed firms, and other financial 
        corporations. Gross issuance by nonfinancial corporations increased slightly 
        more than $500 million in 2005.The total number of issuers of MTNs fell again, down to 122 in 2005 
        from 132 in 2004 (table 5). For financial corporations, the 2005 decline 
        was nine; the largest two decreases were in auto finance companies and 
        "other" financial corporations. For nonfinancial MTNs, the 
        decrease was one in 2005 after a drop of eighteen in 2004. The ratings 
        distribution of MTN issuance in 2005 (table 6) mirrors that of MTNs outstandings.Statistical releasesHome | 
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Last update: January 12, 2007
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