This project will develop a sequence of measures to improve the functioning of capital markets in Jordan in a planned timeframe (the “Project”).
The Jordanian Securities Commission (“JSC” or the “Client”) has officially requested the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”)’s technical assistance and expertise to assist in preparing a 5-year implementation roadmap with a view to further reform the local capital markets. The JSC has approved the Technical Cooperation (“TC”) in August 2015 whereby the Ministry of International Cooperation requested the EBRD to proceed with the project in September 2015.
Previous joint IFIs missions, led by EBRD and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) under the Deauville Partnership umbrella, took place in Amman in September 2012. These assessments provided a holistic overview of the current state of capital markets in Jordan, identified key bottlenecks for the markets’ development and made specific recommendations to resolve these bottlenecks. Follow-up workshops were organised in June 2013, November 2013 and March 2014 to agree a final set of recommendations. Findings cover all capital market instruments (debt, equity, listed and non-listed), capital market infrastructure as well as rules and regulations. All background material will be provided to the successful candidate.
Assignment Description:
EBRD now seeks to retain the services of a consulting company (the “Consultant”) to deliver the implementation roadmap (the “Assignment”). The findings of previous missions will be reviewed and validated by the Consultant to ensure that they are still relevant and fit to purpose. These action points will be included in a comprehensive and sequenced 5-year Implementation Roadmap for capital markets development.
The expected outcome of the Assignment is to assist the Client in its capital markets development.
The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:
- Activity 1: Identification of barriers to the development of capital markets in Jordan:
(a) Carry out a diagnostic review of capital markets in Jordan, analyse the current capital market environment in Jordan, and identify the impediments that limit its development;
(b) Assess access to capital markets for both Jordanian and non-Jordanian investors, including individual investors, and for investors based either in Jordan or accessing Jordan markets from abroad;
(c) interview market participants based on an interview list agreed with the JSC;
(d) identify barriers to further development and;
A specific definition of market participant cannot be applied to this work. Any entity relevant to capital market development should be engaged. Such market participants will include inter alia: Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), Securities Depository Center (SDC), relevant Ministries, Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), regulators, banks, brokers, and asset managers including pension, private equity and venture capital funds. A specific number of interviews cannot be prescribed at this stage.
- Activity 2: Identification of improvement levers and provision of recommendations:
(a) The Consultant will provide the rationale, justifications and a clear set of arguments for improvement levers and recommendation;
(b) Write a report titled “Recommendations and required actions for the further development of the Jordanian capital markets”;
(c) Prepare a set of presentation slides that help understand the retained recommendations and actions, and the impact of the recommended measures, and which can be used by JSC and;
(d) Conduct a workshop with JSC and the various stakeholders, to discuss the findings of Activity 2.
- Activity 3: Drafting of the Implementation Roadmap:
(a) The Consultant will prepare the comprehensive 5-year step-by-step implementation roadmap for capital markets reforms in Jordan based on Activities 1 and 2. The timeline/planning for actions will be on a consolidated basis and per stakeholder.
(b) Organise a roundtable with stakeholders to present the results of the assignment
(c) Prepare the final report and slides to present the findings.
Once this Assignment is complete, it is envisaged that EBRD will coordinate further with JSC to support the phased implementation in separate assignments. Any such follow up assignments undertaken by EBRD would follow the EBRD Procurement Policies & Rules.
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or group of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in November 2015 and has an estimated overall duration of six months.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: The maximum budget available for the Assignment is EUR 146,000, exclusive of VAT. Budget includes: fees, per diem allowance (UN rates), reimbursable expenses (may include indirect taxes, such as VAT, not otherwise recoverable by the Consultant), air travel, local travel, contingencies (if requested) and miscellaneous (visa, printing, etc). For the avoidance of doubt a detailed budget is not expected when submitting expressions of interests.
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant 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 consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source: The Assignment will be funded by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund (SFF) and SEMED Multi-Donor Account (MDA). Please note selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions and consulting firms from any country may apply, however Consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms specialised in capital market development preferably with previous project experience working with market participants and authorities on similar consulting assignments.
The Consultant will form a project team of experts to carry out the assignment. The provided expertise should cover all areas as defined in the scope of work. The Consultant may associate to enhance their qualifications.
It is expected that the Consultant’s team of key experts should consist of:
Key Expert No. 1: Team Leader and Capital Markets expert
a. Preferably 10 years of consultancy experience in the field of capital markets development
b. Preferably 5 years of project management experience including acting as team leader on similar assignments
c. Excellent knowledge of international standards and EU directives related to / impacting the capital markets
d. Experience working on a minimum of two similar projects, at least one of them should be in Western Europe or North America
e. Excellent proficiency in written and spoken English
Key Expert No. 2: Capital Market Infrastructure expert
a. Preferably 5 years of consultancy experience in the field of securities, money markets, derivatives or structured finance with focus on capital markets development
b. Good understanding of the role and IT functionalities of capital market institutions such as; exchanges, Central Securities Depositories (CSDs), Central Counterparties (CCPs), payment systems and settlement banks. Experience in trading, clearing and settlement is a plus
c. Proven track record of working with market participants and authorities or on similar consultancy assignments
d. High proficiency in written and spoken English
Key Expert No. 3: Legal and Regulatory expert
a. Preferably 5 years of experience as a legal and regulatory expert with focus on capital markets development
b. Preferably minimum a Master degree or equivalent in legal studies
c. Acted as a legal/regulatory expert on at least one capital market development project
d. Excellent knowledge of international standards related to / impacting capital markets
e. Knowledge of local legal and regulatory environment is a plus
f. Proficiency in written and spoken Arabic and English
There is no minimum or maximum criteria applied to the number of days expected to be spent onsite at this stage. The candidates may express a view in their methodology as part of their expression of interest. At the next stage, the highest ranked consultant should propose an allocation of on-site / home days for each expert that would fit best with the scope of work.
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be selected shortlisted, the information submitted should include the following:
· Brief overview of the firm/group of firms including company profile, organisation and staffing (2-4 pages);
· Details of previous project experience or similar assignments particularly undertaken in the previous five years including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, percentage carried out by consultant in case of association of firms or subcontracting, main activities, objectives;
· CVs of Key Experts who could carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.
· Brief description of the Assignment’s methodology and approach, limited to 3 pages. This should address the following questions:
o How do you envisage undertaking the proposed three activities?
o What are the main challenges you identify in this Assignment and how will you envisage overcoming them?
o Which measures will you take to ensure a good coordination between the experts?
o How will the Consultant bridge the gap between their international experience and knowledge of the local markets and culture?
· Completed Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link: http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc
The expression of interest shall not exceed 20 pages (excluding CVs and Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet).
The complete expression of interest (including CVs, brief description of the Assignment’s methodology and approach, Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet) should be submitted, in English electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The expression of interest shall be one file (pdf). The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded (4MB), the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.
An Evaluation Committee will be established as per standard EBRD Procurement Policies and Rules. The tender process is a one stage procedure. The highest-ranked firm from an evaluation of the expression of interests submitted will be invited to; provide further details on the proposed approach and methodology, to submit a workplan (including proposed service start/end dates), to confirm the experts and their availability and to prepare a detailed budget.
The EBRD Contact Person:
Ms. Julie Michel
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
E-mail: Michelj@ebrd.com
Tel.: +44 (0) 2073387556 (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
Important Notes:
1. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected from a shortlist and be invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
2. The evaluation criteria and respective weightings are:
a) Firm/group of firms’ previous project experience in delivering consultancy projects related to capital market development and in working with market participants and authorities on similar consulting assignments including the 3 types of activities listed above (15%)
b) Description of the Assignment’s methodology and approach (30%) addressing the following questions:
o How do you envisage undertaking the proposed three activities?
o What are the main challenges you identify in this Assignment and how will you envisage overcoming them?
o Which measures will you take to ensure a good coordination between the experts?
o How will the Consultant bridge the gap between their international experience and knowledge of the local markets and culture?
c) CV of the Key Expert No. 1 (Team Leader & Capital Market expert) (25%)
d) CV of the Key Expert No. 2 (Capital Market Infrastructure) (20%)
e) CV of the Key Expert No. 3 (Legal and Regulatory Expert) (10%)
