Credit Advisors to Partner Banks (PBs) under the MCFF

EBRD Register for Experts for “Regional (TCS 29330) - Credit Advisors to Partner Banks (PBs) under the Medium-sized Loan Co-financing Facility (MCFF)”

Funding source: EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) and Early Transition Countries Multi Donor Fund

EBRD Register and Assignments Description:

The Medium-sized Loan Co-financing Facility (the "MCFF", the "Facility" or the "Project") was established by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "Bank" or the "EBRD") in September 2003 to expand access to medium and long-term financing to companies and enhance its operations in the Early Transition Countries ("ETCs") (now covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).  The Facility also now includes Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia inc. Kosovo). The original EUR 60 million Facility has been increased twice and now amounts to a total of  EUR 285 million.

The MCFF aims to contribute to bridging financing gaps in the local markets by meeting the funding needs of medium-large sized private companies that have begun to outgrow the financial sector in the target countries. At the same time through technical assistance (TC) support, it allows the Bank to strengthen the operational capability of the local partner banks (PBs) and enable the successful implementation of this programme, albeit at a modest pace.

The EBRD now intends to register individual experts (the "Credit Advisers" or "Experts") for consulting assignments in order to increase the pace of improving the skills of the participating banks and the implementation of new MCFF transactions (the "Assignments"). The Credit Advisers will mainly work with the PBs in the ETC and Western Balkan countries.

Detailed terms of reference specific to the needs of a particular PB will be provided for each individual Assignment, and the EBRD will screen the register and select individual Experts for the individual Assignments in accordance with the EBRD’s Procurement Policies and Rules.

The Assignments will consist of two parts:

a)   an induction at the EBRD's headquarters in London: The Experts will be required to meet with the EBRD before commencing work on an individual Assignment in order to ensure that the Expert has a clear understanding of the Project. During this first part of the Assignment, the Experts will actively take part in an induction programme to get fully on board with EBRD procedures and targets for implementing the Project successfully.

b)   The Experts will provide assistance and training to the PBs in pursuing the following objectives:

1. strengthen the credit process and credit portfolio management procedures in each PB, taking into consideration the specific needs of the co-finance facility;
2. improve the business and credit analysis skills in each PB;
3. strengthen the overall credit performance of each of the PBs;
4. ensure that all necessary due diligence on the borrowers and the projects under the MCFF are carried out;
5. ensure that business proposals are appropriately reviewed, necessary projections are correctly prepared and financing is extended against cash flow rather than collateral only;
6. ensure that adequate and accurate reporting standards are upheld;
   (vii) ensure satisfactory quality of existing transactions monitoring;
   (viii) advise on optimisation of the MCFF Programme’s documentation (including templates,);
7. prepare an induction package to (1) help PBs that have joined the MCFF and (2) periodically refresh the knowledge of credit officers in established PBs.

Status of Selection Process: Interested firms intending to register individual Experts or individual Experts are hereby invited to submit applications for being registered with the EBRD.

Assignments’ Start Dates and Durations: The precise duration of each Assignment may vary.

Maximum Budget available for Assignments: In the region of EUR 500,000. The precise budget is to be determined for each individual Assignment (exclusive of VAT), but Assignments are expected to have an indicative budget of an average of EUR 50,000. Subject to availability of funding, the selected Experts’ performance and the Bank’s specific needs the Assignments may be extended.

The Experts must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the Bank's special status as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that an Expert incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the Expert from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.

Funding Source: It is anticipated that the Assignments will be financed through either the "EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility" ("NIF") or the "Early Transition Countries Multi Donor Fund". Selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility criteria.

Expert Profile: Services of individual Experts are required. The Experts seeking to be considered for individual Assignments should be willing to spend time in the ETC and Western Balkan countries and Belarus and must be able to demonstrate the following qualities:

1. Degree from a leading university, with a finance or business focus or other relevant post graduate degree or accountancy qualification;
2. Extensive commercial banking experience, sound level of banking/lending skills with a strong credit background; advanced financial skills with good knowledge of either US GAAP or IAS accounting;
3. Strong project finance and credit skills in order to train staff at the PBs and also have responsibility for identifying acceptable MCFF projects, assisting the PBs in preparation and subsequent monitoring;
4. Relevant work experience in the financial institutions ("FI") sector as well as in the region, combined with knowledge and experience of the EBRD's countries of operation and understanding of the EBRD's mandate;
5. Technically skilled in most of the following areas: strategy development, risk management, lending, corporate governance, treasury options, organisational restructuring, monitoring, work-out, credit risk management functions, liquidity and market risk management and operational review; transfer of know-how including on-the-job training;
6. Ability to deal with difficult issues in a sensitive but firm manner; be results oriented with strong motivation; have good management skills and a proven track record; experience in or exposure to emerging markets/CEE and specifically their banking sectors is also important;
7. Good English is a must as well as fluent knowledge of Russian (for ETCs) to work and communicate with PBs' management effectively.

How to Register & Submission Requirements: Firms (by nominating individual Experts) or individual Experts may apply for registration.

All firms and individuals shall submit an application containing the following mandatory documents:

1. Cover e-mail stating the Expert's suitability for Assignments and how the Expert meets the requirements set out in the Expert Profile.;
2. Registration Form (110KB - DOC)
3. CV (38KB - DOC)

Interested firms and individual Experts wishing to register should complete in English the above mentioned documentation and e-mail them to

Allyson Bailey
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
United Kingdom
baileya@ebrd.com

Important Notes:

1. This notice replaces the notices regarding “EBRD Register of Consultants for MCFF Advisory Services” published on 18 January 2008 and 17 February 2010.
2. Failure to submit in the required format may result in rejection of a firm’s or individual Experts application for registration.
3. CVs should be detailed and include full descriptions of responsibilities carried out, not just a job title. It is expected that the Experts’ CVs list at least previous experience or similar assignments, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration) , main activities, objectives etc.
4. Firms or Experts responding to this invitation are asked not to contact the EBRD apart from the designated contact person as above.
5. Inclusion on the register does not guarantee selection for any individual Assignment.
6. The EBRD reserves the right to modify or withdraw the registration system described above for any reason and without prior notice. Registered firms and individuals will be promptly advised, however, of any such modification or withdrawal and of the system (if any) to be introduced to replace the current procedure.