Credit lending continues to bolster global revenue as equity lending recovers
NEW YORK (March 4, 2025) — The global securities finance industry generated $703 million in revenue for lenders in February 2025, according to DataLend, the market data service of fintech EquiLend. The figure represents a 6% increase from the $663 million generated in February 2024.
Global broker-to-broker activity, where broker-dealers lend and borrow securities from each other, totaled an additional $193 million in revenue in February, up 7% year-over-year.
Global equity revenue improved by 4% as an increase in balances of 17% offset a 9% decrease in fees. Despite an increase in market volatility through rising inflation, global trade tensions and declines in the U.S. technology sector, lending revenue for U.S. stocks continued to fall by 13%, with average fees declining 22% vs. February 2024.
Equity lending revenue in EMEA and APAC saw substantial gains of 17% and 39% respectively year-over-year. The United Kingdom led EMEA with a 48% year-over-year gain. The surge in revenue was driven by a substantial increase in balances of 46% as the FTSE 100 reached record levels.
In APAC, Taiwan and Hong Kong securities lending markets outperformed year-over-year with revenue gains of 72% and 69%, respectively. However, both markets cooled compared to January 2025 while the Japanese lending market dramatically improved. Average fees for Japanese equities increased by 13%, and balances rose by 12%, resulting in a 22% gain in lending revenue. The top two earners in APAC were both Japanese equities, earning just under $6 million total: Bitcoin acquirer and manager, Metaplanet Inc (3350 JP), and semiconductor manufacturer, Kioxia Holdings (285A JP).
Global fixed income revenue increased 13% year-over-year as government debt lending performance improved by 16% and corporate debt revenue by 6%. While the average fees for both government and corporate debt fell by similar margins, 3% and 4% respectively, the volume of bonds on loan increased substantially by 23% and 29% year over year.
The top five earning securities in February were Endeavor Group Holdings (EDR US), Enbridge Inc (ENB CN), iShares iBoxx High Yield (HYG US), Plug Power (PLUG US) and Tempus AI (TEM US). The five securities in total generated $46 million in revenue for lenders in the month.
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