Support for the Development of a Private Credit Bureau in Albania - International Consultant (примерный перевод: Поддержка развития частного кредитного бюро в Албании - Международный консультант) ( - Тендер #3151756)

Location:

Albania

Business sector:

Financial institutions, Other

Project number:

73284

Funding source:

LUDA00 - Lux ODA TC Fund

Contract type:

Consultancy Services

Notice type:

Invitation for expressions of interest (CSU)

Issue date:

16 Apr 2018

Closing date:

07 May 2018 at 23:59 London

Access eSelection

Project Description:

Credit information has an essential role in the financial infrastructure of emerging markets as it improves access to finance, especially for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) make up around 99% of Albanian enterprises while accounting for less than 26% of outstanding banking loans, with another 31% being lent to individuals.

One of the reasons for this limited access to finance for MSMEs and individuals is the lack of information available to creditors about potential borrowers’ credit history, which is crucial for lending decisions. The only credit information available in the country at the moment is that provided by the Credit Registry, created and administered by Bank of Albania (BoA) since 2008. It only contains information on the exposure of borrowers to the banking and partly non-bank financial system, and it does not provide for a credit scoring system. This paucity of credit rating data is compounded by the large informal economy and high stock of nonperforming loans (NPLs).

Establishing a comprehensive credit bureau could address these problems by enabling financial institutions to evaluate the risk of individuals and MSMEs more accurately, ultimately resulting in increased availability of credit and lower borrowing costs.

A Feasibility Study for the Establishment of a Credit Bureau in Albania, commissioned by the EBRD in 2016, concluded that the credit bureau should be established as a separate, private entity under the ownership of banks; should function in collaboration with, and parallel to, the existing Credit Registry at BoA; and should collect information about borrowers’ exposure from all relevant stakeholders, such as utility companies, telecommunications providers (mobile and fixed-line), insurance companies, etc.

Both the BoA and the Albanian Association of Banks (AAB) and its member banks, agree that the establishment of such a credit bureau shall address the lack of a credit scoring system in Albania, which is foreseen as a measure for the reduction of NPLs in the country in the Inter-Institutional Plan of Measures drafted by the authorities for this purpose. Hence, the AAB has undertaken the initiative of developing a private credit bureau in Albania.

Assignment Description:

Against this background, the EBRD now intends to support the AAB with technical assistance during the setting-up phase of the credit bureau, through the engagement of a consultant that brings international expertise and experience (the Assignment). The International Consultant will work closely with two local Legal Experts which are to be recruited in parallel.

The expected outcome of the Assignment is: establishing the appropriate regulatory and legislative framework for the establishment of a comprehensive private credit bureau in Albania, to be approved by the relevant authorities, and the preparation of the institutional framework for producing and accessing credit history in Albania.

The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:

1. Working with AAB and the relevant authorities to establish the appropriate regulatory and legislative framework that enables the creation of a private credit bureau.

2. Building awareness and reaching consensus among all key stakeholders, including potential participants in the credit bureau as well as policymakers and regulators.

3. Identifying processes of work of the credit bureau, relevant technical solutions, and preparing bidding documents for potential technical providers.

4. Recommending an institutional and organisational development plan.

While the Consultant will work closely with the Client, the contracting entity will be the Bank.

Consultants are advised to refer to these Terms of Reference for a more detailed description of service requirements.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in May/June 2018 and has an estimated overall duration of 6 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: The assignment will consist of on average of 10 working days per month for 6 months, plus the reimbursement of travel and other costs associated with the performance of the Assignment. Out of these days, the Consultant will be expected to spend at least 45 working days in Tirana.

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: It is expected that the Assignment will be funded by The Luxembourg ODA Fund.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.

Consultant Profile: Individual services are required. The Consultant shall be an expert (individual expert or an expert nominated by a firm). Consulting firms nominating an individual expert shall submit (separate) individual applications for each expert via eSelection. Single applications for a number of experts containing various CVs may result in rejection of such application and all concerned experts.

The individual expert should possess the following skills:

- Preferably at least ten years of international work experience in similar assignments with development of new credit information systems that include reporting from both banks and other non-bank, non-financial institutions;

- Preferably, experience with setting up and/or handling credit bureau/s operations in a developing country;

- In-depth knowledge of the credit reporting industry, including operational, legal and regulatory aspects;

- Masters degree or equivalent in a relevant field preferred;

- Familiarity with relevant international best practices and global trends;

- Knowledge of the Albanian financial and regulatory system;

- Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Submission Requirements:

In order to determine the capability and experience of experts seeking to be selected for this Assignment, the information submitted should include the following:

1. Cover letter (max. 2 pages) summarising why the expert believes to satisfy the requirements as defined in the above section Consultant Profile;

2. CV (not exceeding 4 pages) which should include full descriptions of responsibilities carried out, not just a job title, 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.

3. Completed Consultant Declaration Form 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.

Expressions of Interest should be submitted in English electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The complete expression of interest (including cover letter, CV, declaration and contact sheet etc.) shall be one file (pdf) to be uploaded to eSelection. The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of experts submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size (4 MB) is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.

Bank Contact Person:

Elena Kolodiy

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

One Exchange Square

London EC2A 2JN
E-mail: kolodiyo@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)

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.

2. The shortlist criteria are:

(a) Previous professional experience in supporting the establishment of credit bureaux, preferably in developing or transition countries (30%)

(b) Successful track record of lobbying key stakeholders to ensure high level buy-in and effective implementation of required legal and regulatory reforms (30%)

(c) Demonstrated knowledge of the Albanian financial and regulatory system (20%)

(d) Professional qualifications (20%)

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