RFQ: Consultancy to undertake Assessment of the Bahamas Government Central Securities Depository based on the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMIs) formulated by CPMI/IOSCO

The DMU is implementing a multi-year debt reform project in The Bahamas entitled ‘Strengthening Public Debt Management Framework and Developing Government Bond Market in The Bahamas’ with funding support from the India-UN Partnership Development Fund [1] and the Government of The Bahamas. 

The DMU is implementing a multi-year debt reform project in The Bahamas entitled ‘Strengthening Public Debt Management Framework and Developing Government Bond Market in The Bahamas’ with funding support from the India-UN Partnership Development Fund [1] and the Government of The Bahamas.

The project aims at delivering an integrated programme of Technical Assistance (TA) to the Government of the Bahamas to strengthen legal, institutional and policy frameworks for public debt management and the development of the government bond market, with the overall objective of promoting long-term public debt sustainability in The Bahamas.

Under the project, a new TA is now planned to be delivered with objectives to (i) Support the Central Bank of the Bahamas (CBOB) in carrying out a complete assessment of the Bahamas Government Central Securities Depository (BGSD) against the international standards for financial market infrastructures and, (ii) Enhance the capacity of the CBOB staff to undertake such assessments on their own in future. In order to support delivery of this TA, the Commonwealth Secretariat is seeking to engage services of a consultant, who will work with the concerned Debt Management Adviser to deliver the above output.

The objectives of this contract are to:

1. Assess BGSD compliance with the international standards for payment, clearing and settlement systems: the CPSS-IOSCO Principles for financial market infrastructures 2012  (PFMI) using the Disclosure Framework and Assessment methodology provided by CPSS and IOSCO.
2. Engage CBOB staff in the gap analysis and assessment process to further develop their understanding of the PFMI and self-assessment process for periodic future reviews and amendments.
3. Identify governance, operational and administrative gaps against good practice outlined in the PFMI and discuss suitable strategies and timelines to address these gaps where it is appropriate in the Bahamas environment to do so.

Required expertise

The consultant should have the following expertise:

1. Master’s degree, or equivalent, in banking, finance, accounting, or other related field,
2. A minimum of 10 years’ experience involving regulation or oversight of payments systems,
3. Experience of delivering TA to countries relating to PFMI Assessments,
4. Demonstrable strong writing skills, as evidenced by publications of relevant reports and/or articles.

The Technical Questionnaire Quotes will be assessed based on the evaluation criteria set forth in this document (see skills and experience required and the weightings apportioned to quality/price above in the Terms of reference/RFQ).

Please apply for this contract by submitting a Proposal to [email protected] by 5pm BST, 6 September 2023.

[1] The India-UN Development Partnership Fund is a dedicated facility within the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation (UNFSSC) supported and lead by the Government of India.