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FIRST Initiative Request for Expressions of Interest from consulting firms wishing to provide services in the area of financial sector development Background The Financial Sector Reform and Strengthening (FIRST) Initiative is a multi-donor grant facility providing technical assistance (TA) to promote financial sector strengthening. FIRST was launched in 2002 by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Department for International Development for the United Kingdom (DFID), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the World Bank. The TA is primarily provided by consultants. The World Bank manages the FIRST Initiative trust fund on behalf of the donors, through a separate Program Management Unit. Based on its success in the first four years of its operations, FIRST has recently been extended to 2012 with available funding of some $65 million. Assignment Overview Assignment Title: Long-listing of consulting firms for financial sector development projects. Assignment Countries: Low- and middle-income developing countries eligible for FIRST financing. Assignment Description FIRST has a large and growing portfolio of some 80 active financial sector development projects. In order to better implement these projects across different sub-sectors and regions and to create more efficient procurement methods, FIRST invites firms wishing to provide consulting services to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). FIRST will select a number of those submitting an EOI to service, on a non-exclusive basis, its financial sector development business needs in all regions and primarily in the following targeted areas: · Banking · Capital Markets and Collective Investment Schemes · Insurance, Pensions, and other Non-Bank Financial Institutions · Accounting and Auditing · Housing Finance · Market Integrity and Combating Financial Crimes · Contingency Planning for Financial Sector Crises In all of these areas, the focus of the work is likely to be on public sector entities and agencies; legal, regulatory and supervisory frameworks; policy work; market development; low-income country recipients; FSAP and ROSC follow-up; and access to finance for the poor. EOIs are welcomed from firms specializing in a range of advisory services (including training, capacity building, and institutional strengthening), preferably in their narrow area of expertise. For large broad-coverage firms, EOIs can be submitted in a number of areas, but separately for each area. The EOIs should clearly state the specific target area(s) for which advisory services are being offered. Eligibility for Responding Interested parties need to be registered as consultants in the World Bank’s eConsultant web-based portal (www.worldbank.org/econsultant). Submission Requirements The EOIs should include a short description of skills and experience or a statement of capabilities (not more than three pages), a list of relevant assignments undertaken during the past four years (not more than three pages and including date, value, source of funding, assignment description), and CVs of key staff (not more than three pages per person and not more than six CVs in total). Responses should be limited to 24 pages. EOIs should be submitted in English through eConsultant (www.worldbank.org/econsultant). The deadline for submission of EOIs is April 28, 2008 (one month from the date of this request). Interested parties may obtain further information by consulting the FIRST website (www.firstinitiative.org) or by writing to the address below. FIRST Initiative Program Management Unit Attn. Ms. Olha Krushelnytska The World Bank, MSN MC 9-903 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 USA firstconsultants@worldbank.org
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