The global securities finance industry saw revenues increase 6.6% year-on-year to $9.9 billion in 2022, according to EquiLend’s market data service DataLend.
Global broker-to-broker activity, where broker-dealers lend and borrow securities from each other, totalled an additional $2.7 billion in revenue for 2022, representing a 3.1% decrease from 2021.
DataLend noted that the improvement in lender-to-broker revenue over 2021 was primarily driven by the strong performance of corporate debt in the lending markets, which saw a $317 million increase in total revenue. Corporate debt fees were up 67.9%, and when combined with an 8.6% increase in on-loan balances, made for a banner year in the asset class.
Government debt revenue increased 9.8% year-on-year, as higher fees offset a drop in on-loan balances.
The five securities earning lenders the most revenue in 2022 were Lucid Group (LCID), GameStop Corporation (GME), Beyond Meat (BYND), Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI) and Cassava Sciences (SAVA). The five securities in total generated $769 million for lenders over the course of 2022, a significant increase from the $413 million generated by 2021’s top five earners.