The global securities finance industry generated $845 million in revenue for lenders in May 2021, according to DataLend, the market data division of fintech EquiLend.
The figure represents a 23% increase from the $690 million generated for lenders in April 2021. There was a 25% increase year over year from the $675 million generated in May 2020.
Global broker-to-broker activity, where broker-dealers lend and borrow securities from each other, totaled an additional $258 million in revenue in May, a 4% increase from 2020.
According to DataLend, the increase in lender-to-broker revenue over May 2020 was driven primarily by equities. EMEA saw a 44% increase in revenue driven by a rise in both fees and on-loan values. North American equities saw a 21% increase in revenue, primarily driven by on-loan values.
For fixed income securities, global revenue generated from government debt saw a 22% increase, while corporate debt saw an increase of 36%.
The top five earners in May 2021 were Credit Agricole SA (ACA FP), AXA SA (CS FP), Blink Charging (BLNK), Social Cap Hedosophia Holdings (IPOE) and Luminar Technologies (LAZR). The five securities in total generated over $75 million in revenue in the month.