Support with the Regulation of Factoring in West Bank and Gaza Tender, United Kingdom - 41702757

Procurement Summary

Country : United Kingdom

Summary : Support with the Regulation of Factoring in West Bank and Gaza

Deadline : 08 Apr 2020

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 41702757

Document Ref. No. :

Competition : ICB

Financier : European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Viv Headlam One Exchange Square London EC2A 2JN
United Kingdom
Email :lewishev@ebrd.com / finprop@ebrd.com
URL :http://www.ebrd.com/

Tender Details

Request for proposals are invited for Support with the Regulation of Factoring in West Bank and Gaza.

Support with the Regulation of Factoring in West Bank and Gaza

Location:

Project number:

82564

Funding source:

TFWBGM - WBG MDA

Contract type:

Consultancy Services

Notice type:

Invitation for expressions of interest (CSU)

Issue date:

18 Mar 2020

Closing date:

08 Apr 2020 at 17:00 London

Access eSelection

Single Stage Open Competitive Selection - Request for Proposals


Project Description:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”) is planning to initiate a technical assistance project in order to support the Palestine Capital Market Authority (“PCMA”) with preparing a legal framework and follow-up outreach activities to promote the new legal framework and the use of factoring among market participants in West Bank and Gaza (the “Project”).

Factoring is a useful instrument that helps entrepreneurs to bridge the liquidity problem. Factoring can help suppliers by providing them with working capital. This is achieved by assigning suppliers- accounts receivable to a factoring company (which can be a bank, a bank subsidiary or an independent company). It therefore shifts credit from the enterprise in the ‘real- sector to the financial sector of the economy and allows easy and quick access to working capital by SMEs.

Strengthening the capacity of financial intermediaries with a focus on increasing access to finance for MSMEs is one of the EBRD-s key priorities in West Bank and Gaza, along with enhancing private sector led growth through direct support for competitiveness and innovation and boosting employment.

The most recent IMF Report on West Bank and Gaza highlights a credit crunch that has led to reluctance on behalf of the banks to lend (especially in Gaza). This has hindered the SME sector-s growth (especially in Gaza) by constraining their working capital and affecting their profitability.

The newly adopted Secured Transactions Law and collateral registry is meant to facilitate SMEs- access to finance through - inter alia - increased use of movable asset-based finance, including accounts receivables, which can provide much-needed financing for smaller businesses. Having said that, the applicable law in Gaza lacks specific provisions on factoring transactions, which, in turn, has hindered the use of this product by market participants.

The local legal practitioners draw attention to the unsuitability of the legal framework governing factoring. There is no framework for licensing, certification or authorisation of companies that wish to offer factoring in West Bank and Gaza. While the PCMA would typically supervise such activity and companies offering factoring, it is unclear if the applicable law prescribes them with the legal authority to issue substantive rules and regulations in this regard. Furthermore, the lack of a clear statutory definition of factoring, origin or maturity of receivables that can be subject to factoring, types of factoring etc., diminishes the certainty around factoring activities. The lack of clear definitions or long-established court practice increases legal risks, thus having a negative impact on the price and competiveness of factoring.

In September 2019, the PCMA approached the EBRD about - inter alia - the possibility of receiving technical assistance for developing a legal framework for factoring operations. The PCMA is keen to support the factoring business, but it lacks the experience in the subject matter. The goal of the PCMA is to achieve the extent of the regulation and legislation needed to ensure stability of the market, legal certainty, and efficiency of the transactions, while not putting undue regulatory burden on the industry.

Assignment Description:

In the context of the Project, the EBRD intends to select and contract a consortium of local and international legal consultants (the “Consultant”) in order to support the PCMA in preparing the regulation necessary for the reform as well as to provide assistance for the implementation phase of the reform and follow-up outreach activities (the “Assignment”).

Further details on the Assignment, the requested services to be performed by the Consultant (the “Services”) and the expected outcomes can be found in the Full Terms of Reference (the “ToR”) which can be accessed from the following link: http://www.ebrd.com/documents/legal-reform/dwdtor82564.pdf.

Consultant Selection Procedure: Single stage open competitive selection. Interested firms or groups of firms are invited to submit a Technical and Financial Proposal.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in Q1 2020 and has an estimated overall duration of18 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 170, 000 (exclusive of VAT), including any costs i.e., travel, translation, etc.

Funding Source: It is anticipated that the contract will be financed by Multi Donor Trust Fund for WBG. Selection and contracting are subject to the availability of funding.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions based on the consultant`s country of origin.

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms preferably possessing:
- high familiarity with the local, regional and international factoring framework and practices;
- deep knowledge and understanding of the intricacies pertaining to legal frameworks governing factoring and access to finance;
- experience in carrying out legal reform projects in the field of access to finance;
- proven ability to produce high-quality written outputs;
- project management, economic, financial and other skills that will be considered necessary for the execution of the activities; and
- proven ability to prepare and deliver trainings, workshops, and presentations.

The Consultant`s expert team is expected to include the following key experts (the `Key Experts`):

Key Expert No. 1 (International legal expert - Team Leader) with preferably 10 years or more of previous experience in:
- a reputable law firm, in the fields of Banking and access to finance regulation;
- developing and implementing methodologies for factoring practices especially in countries having a structure similar to West Bank and Gaza or similar countries of operation of the EBRD;
- drafting regulation and legislation and carrying out legal reform projects in the field of access to finance;
- providing capacity building trainings and workshops as well as organizing and conducting outreach activities; and
- fluent in written and spoken English.

Key Expert No. 2 (Local legal expert) with preferably 10 years or more of previous project experience in:
- reputable law firm in the fields of Banking and access to finance regulation;
- drafting regulation and legislation and carrying out legal reform projects in the field of access to finance;
- the entrepreneurship sector and the relevant representatives in West Bank and Gaza;
- laws of West Bank and Gaza relevant to factoring; and
- fluent in written and spoken English and Arabic.

Submission Requirements: The consultants are now invited to submit a completed Technical and Financial Proposal as per the standard templates and instructions available at: http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/single-stage-package.docx.

Interested Consultants should make themselves familiar with these Standard Templates, Standard Instructions and Conditions of Contract in preparation of their proposals.

The Technical Proposal shall be submitted in English electronically via eSelection not later than the Closing Date, as one single PDF file. The technical proposal should not exceed 25 pages excluding the Declaration Form and CVs (Form 1- TP 1 and Form 1 - TP 6).

The Financial Proposal (Form 2 - FP 1 and FP2) shall be submitted in English separately by email only to the following e-mail address: finprop@ebrd.com. Please indicate the Project number and title in the subject of your e-mail. Consultants are reminded of the requirement to ensure the confidentiality of the Financial Proposals. Consultants are reminded of the requirement to ensure the confidentiality of the Financial Proposals.

A Technical Proposal that contains elements of a financial proposal shall be declared non-responsive.

A Financial Proposal submitted together with the technical proposals via e Selection shall be declared non-responsive.

For the avoidance of doubt, technical proposals should be sent through eSelection and NOT to the above email address. Financial proposals should be sent to the above email address and NOT through eSelection or Bank Contact Person.

Bank Contact Person:
Viv Headlam
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
e-mail: lewishev@ebrd.com

Deadline to Submit Clarification Questions: Via e-mail to the Bank Contact Person two weeks before the deadline for submissions.

Selection Method and Evaluation Criteria:

Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria


(a) Firm`s previous project experience in similar assignments (30%)

(b) Quality of the methodology proposed for the Assignment (30%)

(c) CVs of the Key Experts (40%).


Interviews

Following the evaluation under the technical criteria from (a) to (c) inclusive above, up to five firms with a combined score of 70(%) or above will be invited to interviews. The interviews must be attended by the Key Experts.

EBRD will advise the Consultant regarding the format (e.g. skype call, meeting in person, conference call. etc.) and date of the interviews at the time of the invitation. Please note that all and any costs incurred by the Consultant in connection with attendance to interviews shall be borne by the Consultant.

Combined Technical and Interviews Evaluation and Ranking:

The weights

Documents

 Tender Notice