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EXTENSION OF DEADLINE FOR REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)
THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN
THE PRIVATE SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS PROJECT
Grant No.: H7710- TJ
Assignment Title: Consultancy Service for Strengthening of Banking Supervision Regulatory and Operational Framework of NBT
Reference No.: PSC/CQS 11
The Republic Tajikistan has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Private Sector Competitiveness Project, and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.
The consulting services (“the Services”) include engagement of a consultant firm for Strengthening of Banking Supervision Regulatory and Operational Framework of National Bank of Tajikistan.
The State Committee on Investments and State Property Management of the Republic of Tajikistan and National Bank of Tajikistan now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience and personnel to perform the Services, including: (i) comprehensive information on the company’s profile; (ii) comprehensive information on similar services that have been provided by the firm including specific task and resulting deliverables (iii) information on available experts that adequately qualified to perform the Services (iv) any additional supportive information that is considered to be advantageous in respect to the appended Terms of Reference (Annex A). The shortlisting criteria are:
i. Number and relevance of projects where similar services/task/deliverables have been provided;
ii. Availability of expert(s) with relevant qualification for the assignment;
The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits& Grants by World Bank Borrowers (January 2011, revised July 2014) (“Consultant Guidelines”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.
Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture or a sub-consultancy to enhance their qualifications.
A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Selection Based on the Consultants’ Qualifications (CQS) method set out in the Consultant Guidelines.
Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 8:00 – 17:00 (GMT + 5).
Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail (please use both emails provided below)) by 28.01.2019.
National Bank of Tajikistan
Contact person: Mr. Firdavs Khushkadamov
107/A Rudaki Avenue, 734003, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Tel: +992 44 600 31 92
Fax: +992 44 600 32 35
E-mail: fkhushqadamov@nbt.tj; Cc: pscp-7710@mail.ru
Annex A
Terms of Reference
Consultancy Service for Strengthening of Banking Supervision Regulatory and Operational Framework of NBT
PSC/CQS 11
1. Background
The World Bank has provided a grant for realization of the Private Sector Competitiveness Project. In order to assist in implementation of this project, a Project Implementation Unit (PMU) was created and this PMU is responsible for all implementing activities. PMU is based in the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management (SCISPM) which is the main executive agency responsible for implementation of state policy and regulations in the area of investments, property management and support to entrepreneurship in Tajikistan.
For achieving objectives of the project State Committee for Investments and State Property Management is intends to apply part of the proceeds consultancy service for National Bank of Tajikistan.
The National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) is the central bank of Tajikistan and is also the supervisory and regulatory body for the banking system in the Republic of Tajikistan. This role is defined in Chapter 7 of the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan "On the National Bank of Tajikistan".
Analyses of the banking system’s financial situation and the inspection results of the banking institutions show that the banking system is exposed to various risks. Currently the NBT is in the process of expanding its array of supervisory tools for carrying out effective banking supervision. This is planned to be achieved by improving the legal, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks for supervision of the banking system in Tajikistan to bring them in greater compliance with the Basel Core Principles (including Basel II, as appropriate) and gradually shifting to risk-based supervision approach.
To achieve this, it is necessary to develop a series of regulations on matters pertaining to management of specific risks; internal control; financial reporting, disclosure and transparency; prepare a revised supervisory manual that covers both on-site and off-site processes for supervising banks and the banking system using risk based supervisory approaches.
In this regard, the NBT intends to engage experienced international consultant firm (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultant”) to improve the existing regulatory, organizational and operational frameworks for banking supervision.
2. Objectives and duties
The objective of this assignment is to assist the NBT in developing revised regulatory and supervisory frameworks for banking supervision in Tajikistan that will enable the NBT to undertake effective banking supervision in compliance with the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (BCPs) and Basel II framework, as appropriate for Tajikistan.
Taking into account the current legal, regulatory and organizational frameworks of banking supervision, the Consultant should perform a variety of tasks, including the following:
i. Review of the current NBT’s issued and draft regulations related to prudential requirement for credit organization, risks management and internal control systems, management of individual risks such as credit, market, liquidity and operational risk (including legal and IT risks) management, supervisory assessment and response framework, internal policies and guidelines and reporting templates and other documents.
ii. Preparation of a technical note laying-out in detail the areas for improvements, the suggested improvements and new or revised regulations on management of interest rate risk in the banking book, country and transfer risks, the associated approach and methodology for identifying, measuring, monitoring and managing or mitigating mentioned risks, and the supervisory reporting templates to monitor the level and distribution of these risks to which the credit organizations are exposed to and their compliance with new or revised regulations.
iii. Reviewing the legal, regulatory and organizational framework of banking supervision to identify gaps and designing a revised comprehensive and integrated supervisory approach as appropriate for Tajikistan. The revised supervisory approach broadly envisions (a) adoption of risk-based supervision and (b) implementation of Basel II (Pillars 1, 2 and 3) such that these will improve compliance with the BCPs. The scope of work for this component must include preparation of technical notes, regulations for credit organizations, internal guidelines for NBT, off-site reporting templates, guidance for off-site analyses and preparation of NBT’s manual for supervision of credit organizations. Specifically, this component will include the following, which should be individually compliant with and aligned to the Basel principles and requirements:
(a) Development of revised Pillar 1 capital adequacy requirements for credit organizations that are aligned with the Basel II framework, as appropriate for Tajikistan. These will include revisions to the definition of capital, definition of capital requirements for credit, market and operational risks, assignment of risk weights to the various asset classes, assignment of credit conversion factors and risk weights for off-balance sheet items.
(b) Development of Pillar 2 framework for Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) framework that requires credit organizations to have adequate capital to support all material risks in their business, setting forth the responsibility of bank board and senior management in developing an internal capital adequacy assessment process, which includes setting capital targets that are commensurate with the bank’s risk profile and projected growth. The new framework shall also provide the methodology for evaluation of credit organizations’ ICAAPs, and when deficiencies are identified take prompt and decisive supervisory action.
(c) Development of an appropriate Pillar 2 framework for Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) Framework that will be aligned to the revised capital adequacy framework and will supplement and feed into the risk based supervisory approach to be designed for the supervision of credit organizations in Tajikistan. The SREP should facilitate the NBT to identify the material risks that each credit organization is exposed to, methodology for determining the materiality of risks, assessing the adequacy of the capital held with reference to the level of risks that the bank is exposed to, and methodologies for determining capital add-ons or risk-management and risk mitigation requirements, as may be required for each credit organization.
(d) Development of a Pillar 3 framework, which includes areas and contents of comprehensive public disclosures to be made by the credit organizations, the frequency and mode of disclosures, the key elements of disclosure policies to be prepared by the credit organizations, the framework for preparation and validation of the public disclosures within the credit organization, and templates for disclosures for each item of disclosure. While designing the Pillar 3 framework, the disclosure requirements required under the accounting / financial reporting standards should also be taken into consideration.
(f) Development of a risk-based supervision framework for the supervision of credit organizations operating in Tajikistan. The scope of work includes needed revision of (i) supervisory policies; (ii) supervisory planning; (iii) organizational structure and staffing (licensing, policy, off-site, on-site, methodology, enforcement, resolution etc.); (iv) supervisory methodology (off-site and on-site supervisory approach and methodologies, framework for grading banks according to their riskiness with reference to each material risk and with reference to the risks that the bank is collectively exposed to); (v) supervisory response system, (vi) comprehensive supervisory manuals covering on-site and off-site risk-based supervision processes for individual banks, systemically important banks and the banking system as a whole. The framework shall equip the NBT to implement a risk-based approach to banking supervision to focus more intensely on the areas within a credit organization that pose risks or threats to their individual safety and soundness, and to those credit organizations with risk profiles that pose risks or threats to the safety and soundness of the banking system. The manuals shall document the supervision methodology, explain the concepts and their interpretation for application, supervision planning, allocation of supervisory resources in proportion to the risks and riskiness, supervisory cycle and a revised supervisory response framework that assists the NBT to determine the appropriate supervisory responses in relation to the risks and riskiness.
(e) Development of a Road Map for implementation Pillars 1, 2 and 3, and risk-based supervision framework indicating objectives, activities, milestones and estimated timeframe.
iv. Organizing and conducting trainings and capacity building sessions for employees of the Banking Supervision Department, in each of the above specific areas in order to enable them to understand the international best practices in the above areas, to understand the need for and relevance of the proposed changes to the regulatory and supervisory frameworks, approaches and methodologies, and to perform effective banking supervision under the revised frameworks.
The Consultant should coordinate and cooperate with ongoing projects and groups that provide technical assistance in the area of banking supervision, consulting with external auditors of banks if needed.
3. Deliverables
The Consultant will closely work with the Banking Supervision Department, of NBT and will prepare and deliver the following:
i. Initial report(s) on (a) assessment of the current regulatory and organizational framework of banking supervision and identifying the specific areas for improvement, (c) identifying the specific deliverables and available options for making the improvements, preparing a detailed list of the new and proposed amendments regulations, circular letters, guidelines, directives, manuals, reporting templates, and any other form of documentation that is relevant; and (d) proposing a structured plan for the deliverables, indicating sequence and timelines.
ii. Preparing the drafts of all revised and new regulations, procedures, circular letters, guidelines, directives, manuals, supervisory reporting templates, public disclosure templates and other forms of documentation that is relevant.
iii. Organizing and conducting training and workshops for all employees of the Bank Supervision Department for each of the above areas.
iv. All the above-mentioned deliverables must be submitted in English language with Russian translation (both electronic and hard copy).
4. Reporting obligation:
The consultant will prepare and submit the following reports:
i. Upon finalization of each specific deliverable as listed above and in the structured plan for deliverables as agreed with the NBT, submit a report with summary of work performed, brief description and response to NBT’s comments and suggestion associated with each deliverable, and the revised version of the deliverable that takes into consideration the NBT’s comments and suggestions.
ii. Final report on successful completion of all tasks provided in this TOR, that provides a summary of the work performed, identifies the next steps for the NBT and provides guidance on sequencing and timelines.
All the above-mentioned reports must be submitted in English language with Russian translation (both electronic and hard copy).
The Consultant(s)’ deliverables under the project shall be subjected to a quality control process involving a panel of experts to be identified by the National Bank of Tajikistan. The Consultant shall participate in the review meetings (including virtual meetings) and suitably address the review comments, inputs and suggestions that will be made during the quality control process. The Consultant shall document the inputs received during the quality control process and how these were addressed, and submit to NBT along with each deliverable.
The Consultant(s) shall report to the Chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan, Mr. Nurmahmadzoda Jamshed. The work of the Consultant will be implemented under the general supervision of the Director of Bank Supervision Department of NBT, Mr. Nurmuhammad Sharipov. The Consultant shall coordinate internally with all relevant departments in NBT and other agencies authorities outside the NBT through the Banking Supervision Department in NBT.
5. Duration of the assignment
It is expected that the current Terms of Reference will be implemented by several consultants, who are subject matter experts, on various dates between January 31, 2019 and October 20, 2019. The Consultants will work in close cooperation with Banking Supervision Department of NBT and provide services both on the ground (in NBT office, Dushanbe, Tajikistan), and remotely. The Consultant(or its experts) should be available for consultation via video conference, audio conference, e-mail and telephone in respect of the areas where she/ he has provided assistance until complete implementation of deliverables.
6. Client's Input
Upon on-site visits, Client will provide to the Consultant working space, office equipment, Internet access and access to documents necessary to carry out the assignment. NBT shall be responsible for facilitation and scheduling of all meetings and workshops essential for the Consultant to accomplish the assignment and providing the Consultant with all required information and documentation (in Russian and in English if available).
7. Qualification requirements
i. For core expert (at least one for the team), who will work on the regulatory and operational frameworks of banking supervision: work experience (at least 15 years) in developing and implementing regulatory and supervisory frameworks for banking supervision, particularly in the above mentioned specific areas, at least performed 2 similar assignments;
ii. For other experts (if required): and work experience (at least 7 years) in implementing or supervising accounting, risk management, internal control, internal audit and compliance policies and procedure in banks, and preparation and submission of bank financial statements, at least performed 2 similar assignments;
iii. Work experience in similar countries with restructuring economies, preferably CIS countries;
iv. Excellent reading, writing and speaking knowledge of English language; In addition, reading, writing and speaking knowledge of Russian is preferred;
The consultant should plan the time to be spent on each task - off-site and in the field, such that she/he are available for at least 60 working days in the field to support the discussion of the submitted reports and drafts, preparation of amendments to the drafts, and the conduct of capacity building and training sessions.