Proposal Information and Evaluation
The CPA seeks
written responses to this Request for Proposal (RFP) from commercial banks and
bank consortia. Responses will be made
by submitting proposals via e-mail to the address on the cover page of this
document. Each submission will be
evaluated by an expert group, and a small number of banks will be given the
opportunity to make final “face-to-face” presentations before a “Selection
Committee,” formed to evaluate proposals and the subsequent presentations. The Selection Committee will be chaired by
the Finance Minister / President of the Trade Bank of Iraq. He will be assisted by a panel of experts
drawn from the international community.
The Selection Committee will recommend to Ambassador Bremer of the CPA
the bank or bank consortium best designed to assist the Trade Bank in becoming
operational. Once the selection is
made, the CPA will proceed to negotiate the Agency Processing Agreement with
the bank or bank consortium selected.
The deadline for
written responses to this RFP is August 8th. Notice of the RFP will be made in the
international business press. Proposals
should be organized according to the framework laid out in the RFP. Inquiries about the RFP, or requests for
clarification of the language contained in the RFP, may be made by responding
via e-mail to iraqtradebank@do.treas.gov
until August 6th. The CPA
requests that, once the RFP is made public, all inquiries should be made in
written form to the e-mail address above.
Responses will be made to all inquiries during the “Comment Period,”
which runs from July 24th to August 6th. During the Comment Period, banks and bank
consortia should refrain from making personal contact with CPA officials or any
others associated with this RFP, and attempts to make inappropriate contacts
may be grounds for disqualification from the selection process. If any inquiry submitted to the e-mail
address above raises an item of interest to all bidders, or the need for an
important clarification related to the RFP process, the inquiry and response may
be disseminated to all potential bidders by posting on the CPA website.
Banks and Bank Consortia will make their formal presentations before the
Selection Committee in Bahrain. These
presentations will be no more than two hours in length, and presentations must
allow for sufficient time for a question and answer period. The final selection of a bank or bank
consortium will be announced by the CPA Administrator after deliberation with
the Selection Committee and further consultation/negotiation with those invited
to make formal presentations.
The Selection
Committee is committed to carrying out a selection process that is transparent
and fair to all parties, and members will be carefully vetted to ensure that
there are no conflicts of interest with banks responding to this RFP. All proposals will be made available to the
public for review, except information in the proposal that is specifically
identified as proprietary or confidential.
The planned
calendar for the selection process is as follows:
Date Selection
Process
July 24 Request
for Proposals issued via notice in the financial press. Copies of the complete version of the RFP
are posted on the CPA website. This
also begins the Comment Period described above.
August 6 Comment
Period ends at 5:00 PM, Washington, DC time.
August 8 Proposal
submissions are due in Washington, DC by 5:00 PM.
August 13 - 15 Firms invited to make presentations in Bahrain are
notified of their selection.
August 19 – 21 Finalist financial institutions/consortia make
presentations in Bahrain.
Week of Selection
of Operating Consortium Financial Institution(s)
August 25th announced and initial draft
of the Agency Processing Agreement (APA) is circulated.
Week of Organizational
meeting to be scheduled in Bahrain and the
September 3rd Agency Processing Agreement is
executed.
Changes to this
calendar will be posted on the CPA website where the complete version of the
RFP is displayed.