Corporate Medium-Term Notes, 1999

U.S. corporations issued $135 billion of medium-term notes (MTNs) in 1999, down $15 billion 

from the 1998 total of $150 billion (table 1.A). Issuance by financial firms fell to $121 billion in 

1999, a decline of $8 billion, while nonfinancial firms issued $14 billion, a $7 billion decline 

from 1998. A total of 96 firms sold MTNs in 1999, down from 145 in 1998 (table 1.B), though 

the number of firms with MTNs outstanding rose to 451 in 1999 (table 2.B). Year-end MTNs 

outstanding rose $37 billion in 1999, to $416 billion (tables 2.A and 3). The increase was largely 

accounted for by the $28 billion rise in outstandings at financial firms, to nearly $330 billion. 

Outstandings for nonfinancial firms increased $9 billion, to $90 billion, after the previous year’s 

gain of $6 billion.

Borrowers in the corporate MTN market continue to have predominantly investment-grade 

ratings. As in 1998, roughly 99 percent of total MTN issuance had a rating of Baa or better (table 

5.A). Issuance by single-A-rated issuers accounted for 62 percent of total gross issuance, up from 

58 percent in 1998. AA rated issuance declined to 20 percent, from 25 percent in 1998. Three 

issuers had a speculative-grade credit rating last year (table 5.B).

The MTN market accounts for a sizable share of intermediate and long-term borrowing by 

U.S. companies. One measure of the MTN market share is the volume of MTN issuance as a 

percent of total public issuance of investment-grade debt (MTNs plus corporate bonds). For all 

U.S. corporations, this measure of share was 41 percent in 1999 (table 7); for financial firms, it 

was 57 percent; and for nonfinancial firms, it was 12 percent. For all firms, this share fell slightly 

from 1998. Similarly, the ratio of outstanding MTN debt as a share of total corporate outstanding 

debt (MTNs plus corporate bonds) declined slightly over the year, from 15 percent to 14 percent 

(table 8). 
 Table 1

 Gross Borrowing by U.S. Corporations in the U.S. Medium-Term Note Market

 A. Millions of Dollars

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 34,008 46,617 72,018 74,539 86,062 87,845 98,916 93,676 114,437 149,219 134,990

 

 Financial Corporations 26,294 29,936 45,773 50,626 57,842 70,074 79,462 81,954 98,879 128,524 121,041

 Auto Finance Companies 8,575 9,874 12,380 13,450 10,755 11,219 11,631 8,642 12,076 19,732 22,971

 Banking Firms 3,610 3,162 11,157 6,603 7,561 8,103 13,945 12,136 14,815 19,057 11,837

 Finance Companies* 8,500 12,289 14,802 18,635 19,305 30,386 34,017 32,948 31,969 43,393 41,365

 Real Estate, Insurance 900 1,186 1,027 1,129 1,422 846 1,671 2,391 3,646 5,483 3,249

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans 2,312 25 0 67 861 500 1,285 1,518 180 100 180

 Securities Brokers 2,397 3,399 6,408 10,741 17,937 19,320 16,912 24,319 36,192 40,759 41,438

 Nonfinancial Corporations 7,713 16,681 26,245 23,913 28,220 17,771 19,455 11,722 15,578 20,695 13,950

 Electric, Gas and 2,706 3,221 5,143 7,535 10,858 2,523 2,732 1,877 2,765 3,198 1,866

 Water

 Manufacturing 2,570 6,497 12,503 9,190 8,394 6,817 7,531 5,221 6,321 9,213 6,556

 Services 961 1,237 2,409 1,747 3,079 3,529 4,691 3,144 4,187 6,837 4,429

 Telephone and 84 1,221 1,373 1,635 2,729 1,492 1,493 831 838 395 67

 Communication

 Transportation, 578 1,933 1,800 1,068 1,740 920 612 405 177 111 700

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 815 2,573 3,018 2,738 1,420 2,489 2,396 245 1,270 941 331

 Trade

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 1

 Gross Borrowing by U.S. Corporations in the U.S. Medium-Term Note Market

 B. Number of Issuers

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 139 165 224 211 210 171 195 165 158 145 96

 

 Financial Corporations 72 65 76 66 71 68 78 87 84 71 53

 Auto Finance Companies 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 5 6 5

 Banking Firms 15 13 23 16 19 16 19 21 20 14 10

 Finance Companies* 30 37 38 31 28 27 31 33 33 23 19

 Real Estate, Insurance 8 5 7 10 12 11 14 18 14 18 10

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans 11 1 0 1 2 1 3 2 1 1 1

 Securities Brokers 5 6 6 6 7 10 8 10 11 9 8

 Nonfinancial Corporations 67 100 148 145 139 103 117 78 74 74 43

 Electric, Gas and 25 30 44 56 60 37 42 31 32 31 16

 Water

 Manufacturing 25 41 62 51 47 39 46 29 20 26 13

 Services 7 7 10 7 7 8 7 7 6 7 8

 Telephone and 1 9 11 10 8 6 8 5 4 2 1

 Communication

 Transportation, 6 8 11 8 9 7 7 3 4 3 2

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 3 5 10 13 8 6 7 3 8 5 3

 Trade

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 2

 Medium-Term Notes Outstanding

 A. Millions of Dollars

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 142,416 176,855 210,894 235,485 267,501 287,324 317,516 379,747 416,284

 

 Financial Corporations 89,823 108,277 125,404 145,858 171,096 194,536 242,685 298,482 326,376

 Auto Finance Companies 29,526 33,657 33,270 33,753 37,076 37,541 39,573 48,004 59,036

 Banking Firms 15,794 17,988 19,558 21,468 27,964 33,569 41,103 55,987 62,167

 Finance Companies* 31,645 39,306 45,257 57,686 70,542 78,197 83,141 98,852 111,177

 Real Estate, Insurance 2,783 3,442 4,567 4,757 6,083 8,002 12,628 21,839 24,080

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans 1,398 805 1,002 1,250 2,255 2,670 490 340 340

 Securities Brokers 8,678 13,078 21,751 26,944 27,176 34,556 65,639 73,460 69,575

 Nonfinancial Corporations 52,593 68,578 85,490 89,627 96,405 92,788 74,832 81,265 89,909

 Electric, Gas and 12,414 18,895 28,178 28,771 29,658 28,288 21,788 23,550 24,689

 Water

 Manufacturing 21,793 27,384 30,885 31,959 33,945 34,204 25,405 28,353 35,524

 Services 4,953 5,211 6,182 7,453 10,091 10,944 10,365 11,681 9,429

 Telephone and 2,610 3,841 5,841 6,731 7,414 5,538 6,335 6,072 6,229

 Communication

 Transportation, 4,482 5,097 6,482 6,233 6,094 5,713 4,028 4,040 6,063

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 6,341 8,150 7,922 8,482 9,203 8,101 6,909 7,568 7,974

 Trade

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 2

 Medium-Term Notes Outstanding

 B. Number of Issuers with MTNs Outstanding

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 315 354 367 376 401 411 448 427 451

 

 Financial Corporations 114 119 115 114 121 126 175 168 177

 Auto Finance Companies 3 3 3 3 3 3 8 7 6

 Banking Firms 29 29 32 30 31 32 39 35 35

 Finance Companies* 45 47 47 48 47 46 69 64 69

 Real Estate, Insurance 13 17 17 18 24 29 39 41 46

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans 18 17 9 5 6 6 4 3 3

 Securities Brokers 6 6 7 10 10 10 16 18 18

 Nonfinancial Corporations 201 235 252 262 280 285 273 259 274

 Electric, Gas and 62 74 83 83 90 91 86 85 89

 Water

 Manufacturing 85 99 104 111 117 117 97 93 92

 Services 14 13 13 13 14 14 19 16 17

 Telephone and 14 16 16 17 17 18 22 20 20

 Communication

 Transportation, 15 16 19 19 21 23 24 23 31

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 11 17 17 19 21 22 25 22 25

 Trade

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 3

 Net Borrowing in the Medium-Term Note Market

 __________________________________________________________________________________________

 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 34,439 34,039 24,591 32,016 19,823 30,192 62,231 36,538

 

 Financial Corporations 18,454 17,127 20,454 25,238 23,440 48,149 55,797 27,893

 Auto Finance Companies 4,131 -387 483 3,323 465 2,032 8,431 11,033

 Banking Firms 2,194 1,570 1,910 6,496 5,605 7,534 14,884 6,180

 Finance Companies* 7,661 5,951 12,429 12,856 7,655 4,944 15,711 12,324

 Real Estate, Insurance 659 1,125 190 1,326 1,919 4,626 9,211 2,241

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans -593 197 248 1,005 415 -2,180 -150 0

 Securities Brokers 4,400 8,673 5,193 232 7,380 31,083 7,821 -3,885

 Nonfinancial Corporations 15,985 16,912 4,137 6,778 -3,617 -17,956 6,433 8,644

 Electric, Gas and 6,481 9,283 593 887 -1,370 -6,500 1,762 1,139

 Water

 Manufacturing 5,591 3,501 1,074 1,986 259 -8,799 2,948 7,171

 Services 258 971 1,271 2,638 853 -579 1,316 -2,252

 Telephone and 1,231 2,000 890 683 -1,876 797 -263 158

 Communication

 Transportation, 615 1,385 -249 -139 -381 -1,685 12 2,023

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 1,809 -228 560 721 -1,102 -1,192 659 406

 Trade

 __________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 4

 Statistics on Firm-Level Outstandings of Medium-Term Notes

 A. Average Outstandings in Millions of Dollars

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 452 500 575 626 667 699 709 889 969

 

 Financial Corporations 788 910 1,090 1,279 1,414 1,544 1,387 1,777 1,844

 Auto Finance Companies 9,842 11,219 11,090 11,251 12,359 12,514 4,947 6,858 11,546

 Banking Firms 545 620 611 716 902 1,049 1,054 1,596 1,772

 Finance Companies* 703 836 963 1,202 1,501 1,700 1,205 1,547 1,613

 Real Estate, Insurance 214 202 269 264 253 276 324 533 523

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans 78 47 111 250 376 445 150 113 113

 Securities Brokers 1,446 2,180 3,107 2,694 2,718 3,456 4,102 4,081 3,865

 Nonfinancial Corporations 262 292 339 342 344 326 274 314 406

 Electric, Gas and 200 255 339 347 330 311 253 280 280

 Water

 Manufacturing 256 277 297 282 290 292 262 304 390

 Services 354 401 476 573 721 782 546 691 527

 Telephone and 186 240 365 396 436 308 288 320 311

 Communication

 Transportation, 299 319 341 328 290 248 168 176 196

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 576 479 466 446 438 368 276 330 308

 Trade

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 4

 Statistics on Firm-Level Outstandings of Medium-Term Notes

 B. Median Outstandings in Millions of Dollars

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 152 167 200 200 200 210 200 211 213

 

 Financial Corporations 233 229 260 346 394 323 300 340 375

 Auto Finance Companies 9,837 10,851 13,660 15,575 15,769 15,653 922 2,310 5,869

 Banking Firms 225 150 225 355 400 323 407 463 445

 Finance Companies* 350 444 442 477 621 851 504 475 552

 Real Estate, Insurance 129 133 200 169 121 163 150 150 192

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans 50 25 26 16 105 135 105 100 100

 Securities Brokers 1,028 1,316 3,396 2,242 2,575 3,656 1,433 1,090 865

 Nonfinancial Corporations 130 157 198 183 185 176 150 170 180

 Electric, Gas and 103 165 185 200 197 208 160 198 187

 Water

 Manufacturing 124 140 193 170 160 150 138 150 180

 Services 238 300 248 299 345 503 224 199 161

 Telephone and 148 198 192 198 219 198 157 188 170

 Communication

 Transportation, 210 174 189 159 145 110 96 75 150

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 165 150 245 250 250 166 172 200 196

 Trade

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 5

 Ratings Distribution of Medium-Term Note Gross Issuance

 A. Millions of Dollars

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

 Aaa 1,635 1,635 4,250 2,966 4,091 9,274 10,358 4,740 2,065 10,021 11,401

 

 Aa 14,920 14,920 5,441 6,381 4,840 5,292 7,965 12,011 28,688 37,148 26,457

 A 23,731 23,731 51,589 50,652 57,800 58,600 65,440 60,910 68,080 86,054 84,159

 Baa 6,331 633 10,585 13,807 17,759 13,926 14,452 15,126 14,361 15,887 12,692

 Ba 0 0 145 732 1,573 618 573 757 266 159 226

 B 0 0 1 0 0 134 128 131 1,010 0 54

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source has changed between 1996 and 1997.
 Table 5

 Ratings Distribution of Medium-Term Note Gross Issuance

 B. Number of Issuers

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

 Aaa 14 6 9 9 8 3 2 3 3 3 3

 

 Aa 18 25 27 23 25 14 19 17 28 21 14

 A 71 92 136 111 115 107 119 96 89 84 52

 Baa 36 48 59 69 64 50 53 50 39 36 24

 Ba 2 0 2 7 8 5 4 3 2 1 2

 B 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 1 4 0 1

 _____________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Data source has changed between 1996 and 1997.
 Table 6

 Ratings Distribution of Medium-Term Notes

 (Millions of Dollars)

 A. Year-end Outstandings

 __________________________________________________________________________________

 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 210,894 235,485 267,501 287,324 317,516 379,747 416,284

 

 Aaa 8,799 12,725 17,021 13,599 10,732 15,948 24,266

 Aa 12,860 15,686 22,984 38,027 65,233 88,662 85,094

 A 122,544 142,543 161,758 168,488 186,203 213,057 240,211

 Baa 62,232 59,603 61,040 61,449 47,283 56,776 61,781

 Ba 3,637 4,136 3,723 4,638 3,178 3,502 3,568

 B 373 343 500 635 1,956 1,422 1,003

 Other 0 0 0 0 2,931 380 362

 Financial Corporations 125,404 145,858 171,096 194,536 242,685 298,482 326,376

 Aaa 7,570 12,130 16,621 13,045 9,753 15,271 23,621

 Aa 4,853 9,747 16,185 30,771 58,779 81,278 76,558

 A 81,172 96,965 107,663 119,131 153,287 164,271 186,603

 Baa 30,596 25,839 29,410 30,337 26,389 35,235 37,695

 Ba 1,213 1,177 1,218 1,251 537 787 707

 B 0 0 0 0 1,905 1,381 972

 Other 0 0 0 0 1,913 260 219

 Nonfinancial Corporations 85,490 89,627 96,405 92,788 74,832 81,265 89,909

 Aaa 1,229 595 400 554 999 677 645

 Aa 8,007 5,939 6,799 7,256 6,370 7,384 8,536

 A 41,371 45,579 54,095 49,357 42,910 48,787 53,608

 Baa 31,636 33,763 31,630 31,111 20,844 21,541 24,085

 Ba 2,424 2,959 2,506 3,387 2,641 2,715 2,861

 B 373 343 500 635 51 41 31

 Other 0 0 0 0 1,018 120 143

 __________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.
 Table 6

 Ratings Distribution of Medium-Term Notes

 B. Net Change

 __________________________________________________________________________________

 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 34,039 24,591 32,016 19,823 30,192 62,231 36,538

 

 Aaa 2,722 3,926 4,296 -3,422 -2,867 5,216 8,319

 Aa -277 2,826 7,298 15,043 27,206 23,429 -3,568

 A 33,030 19,999 19,215 6,730 17,715 26,854 27,153

 Baa -2,389 -2,629 1,437 409 -14,166 9,493 5,005

 Ba 632 499 -413 915 -1,460 324 66

 B 320 -30 157 135 1,321 -534 -419

 Other 0 0 0 0 0 -2,551 -18

 Financial Corporations 17,127 20,454 25,238 23,440 48,149 55,797 27,893

 Aaa 2,640 4,560 4,491 -3,576 -3,292 5,518 8,350

 Aa -1,743 4,894 6,438 14,586 28,008 22,499 -4,720

 A 25,504 15,793 10,698 11,468 34,156 10,984 22,333

 Baa -9,446 -4,757 3,571 927 -3,948 8,846 2,461

 Ba 224 -36 41 33 -714 250 -80

 B -52 0 0 0 1,905 -524 -409

 Other 0 0 0 0 0 -1,653 -41

 Nonfinancial Corporations 16,912 4,137 6,778 -3,617 -17,956 6,433 8,644

 Aaa 82 -634 -195 154 445 -322 -32

 Aa 1,466 -2,068 860 457 -886 1,014 1,152

 A 7,525 4,208 8,516 -4,738 -6,447 5,877 4,821

 Baa 7,057 2,127 -2,133 -519 -10,267 697 2,544

 Ba 408 535 -453 881 -746 74 146

 B 372 -30 157 135 -584 -10 -10

 Other 0 0 0 0 0 -898 23

 __________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

 Data source changed between 1996 and 1997.
 Table 7

 Ratio of Medium-Term Note Issuance to the 

 Sum of Medium-Term Note and Corporate Bond Issuance

 for Investment-Grade Issuers

 (percent)

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporations 33 42 41 37 35 54 47 43 47 43 27

 

 Financial Corporations 44 58 57 57 51 63 59 57 62 61 32

 Auto Finance Companies 61 73 74 73 62 73 77 81 71 76 65

 Banking Firms 33 58 64 32 27 34 40 30 47 53 22

 Finance Companies* 40 50 48 62 65 69 65 72 73 63 26

 Real Estate, Insurance 38 85 38 36 17 21 20 19 20 21 5

 and Other Financial

 Companies

 Savings and Loans 36 3 0 8 45 49 72 89 12 400 4

 Securities Brokers 46 67 54 69 65 84 75 76 75 76 67

 Nonfinancial Corporations 18 28 27 21 21 35 26 16 18 15 12

 Electric, Gas and 24 26 27 18 21 23 24 23 20 15 9

 Water

 Manufacturing 13 22 25 21 23 49 27 15 18 20 14

 Services 56 46 61 40 48 58 45 36 38 37 45

 Telephone and 3 25 20 19 13 25 15 12 13 2 1

 Communication

 Transportation, 15 37 26 18 16 10 8 4 2 1 5

 Mining, and

 Construction

 Wholesale and Retail 29 45 34 29 16 43 35 4 15 8 3

 Trade

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Note. In the ratio, the volume of MTNs and corporate bonds does not include convertible bonds, federal agency bonds,

 asset-backed securites, or private placements.

 * Excluding auto finance companies.
 Table 8

 Ratio of Medium-Term Notes Outstanding to the 

 Sum of Medium-Term Notes and Corporate Bonds Outstanding

 (percent)

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 All U.S. Corporate MTNs and Bonds 14 16 17 19 19 18 19 15 14

 

 All U.S. Corporate MTNs and Bonds 17 19 21 23 23 22 23 17 16

 with Investment-Grade Ratings

 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Source. Moody’s Investor Service for corporate bond outstandings. Both Moody’s and Federal

 Reserve figures exclude private placements, asset-backed securities, bonds issued by federal

 agencies, eurobonds, and Yankee bonds. Moody’s figures include convertible bonds.