SECTION a Request for Proposal Information

SECTION a Request for Proposal Information

CONFIDENTIAL


SECTION A – Request for Proposal Information

  1. Introduction
  2. Bank Negara Malaysia (the Bank) is inviting competent market research companies (MRCs) and institutes of higher learning (IHLs) to submit a comprehensive proposal to conduct a study to assess the effectiveness of the Bank’s mandatory disclosure requirements in supporting informed decisions by financial consumers.
  3. This Request for Proposal (RFP) provides a broad specification of the study on disclosure requirements (SOD) project as a guide for MRCs and IHLs (Vendors) to submit a proposal for the Bank’s evaluation and consideration.
  4. Vendors are advised to read this document thoroughly and follow the instructions carefully before submitting their proposal.
  1. General Conditions

2.1The Vendor must meet the mandatory requirements specified as follows:

2.1.1A company incorporated under the Malaysian Companies Act 1965 or an institution of higher learning (public or private);

2.1.2At least three years in operations and has experience in conducting market studies in Malaysia related to financial consumer behavior, preferences and sentiments; and

2.1.3Positive net worth for the past three years (applicable to companies and private IHLs only)

2.2The Vendorshall provide a complete response to the mandatory requirements as per Appendix A-2.

2.3The Vendor shall respond to the RFP on the basis that the Vendor is deemed to have examined and understood the entire content of this RFP. The Vendor shall also be deemed to have accepted and is bound by the terms and conditions specified in this RFP. Any limitations of responsibilities that the Vendor wishes to negotiate should be clearly stated.

2.4 The specifications and contractual conditions contained in this RFP define the basic functional, technical and contractual requirements with regard to this RFP. Any amendments to the specifications will be effected and notified by the Bank to all Vendors through official letter or e-mail.

2.5 The Vendor must ensure that prices quoted in the tender which includes, but is not limited to, itemised costing and total cost, are true, accurate and complete before submitting the price quotation to the Bank.

2.5.1 All prices quoted must be in Ringgit Malaysia (RM), which is inclusive of all applicable service tax, withholding tax and other Malaysian government taxes to be incurred and payable by the Bank under the law;

2.5.2 The prices quoted shall not be subject to any fluctuations of RM due to any reasons, and shall be applicable throughout the tender process and in the proposed Agreement to be entered into between the Bank and the Vendor, if the Vendor’s proposal is selected by the Bank; and

2.5.3 The Vendor shall be solely responsible for any omissions or errors on prices quoted to the Bank and shall have no right to impose any additional costs, make a claim from the Bank or request the Bank on any grounds for the rectification and reconsideration of the prices quoted. The Bank will not entertain any request from any Vendor for any variation of prices or submission of additional quotes for items erroneously omitted in the original submission of proposal on any grounds including oversight, lack of knowledge, etc.

2.6 Upon award of the study contract to the successful Vendor, the price quoted by the Vendor or subsequently agreed to by BNM and the Vendor will be fixed throughout the agreed implementation period.

2.7 The Vendor must be prepared to:

2.7.1 Provide a list of on-going and successfully implemented projects on the subject of financial consumer behavior, preferences and sentiments relating to financial products and services for the Bank’s reference, as per Appendix A-5 (Section 4);

2.7.2 Allow the Bank to conduct checks with references cited by the Vendor, where necessary, to gauge the Vendor’s capabilities;

2.7.3 Respond to any questions on the proposal and provide additional information, which may include further details on the Vendor’s past completed projects as per Para 2.7.1 above, as and when required by the Bank;

2.7.4Present its proposal to the Bank, if short-listed. The presentation must be conducted by the proposed Project Manager and key implementation team members for the SOD project; and

2.7.5Deposit a performance bond of equivalent to five percent of the contract value.

2.8 The Vendor may submit a proposal covering more than the requirements specified under this RFP with the necessary elaboration and explanation.

2.9The Bank reserves the right to amend the specifications and conditions in this RFP in order to correct errors, rectify omissions or discrepancies, or to reflect any change in policy. Any amendment to the specifications and contractual conditions shall be effected by the issuance of an addendum to this document and all Vendors shall be notified accordingly.

  1. Engagement and Deliverables

3.1 The RFP does not constitutea contract with the Bank. The Bank intends that no contract will be formed until the selection of the award is finalised.

3.2 The Bank may, at its sole discretion, reject any or all proposals without further discussion and/or reject an RFP of any party who has been delinquent or unfaithful in any former contract with the Bank.

3.3A Vendor withdrawing its proposal that has been submitted and opened by the Bank may be blacklisted from participating in future tenders, in accordance with the policies of the Bank.

3.4The selected Vendor is not allowed to outsource or assign the study to any other party without the written consent of the Bank. The Bank reserves the right to reappoint another Vendor should this rule be breached.

  1. Confidentiality
  2. This RFP document is strictly confidential. Information contained in this RFP document shall not be disclosed directly or indirectly to any other party.
  3. Participating Vendors are not allowed to furnish any information, make statements or issue any documents or other written or printed materials concerning the acceptance of the RFP for publication in any media without the prior approval of the Bank.
  4. The information and documents provided by the Vendor will be treated as strictly confidential.
  1. Evaluation of Proposal
  2. The interpretation of the contents of the proposal by the Bank shall be final.
  3. The evaluation of the proposal shall be based on, but not limited to, the following factors:
  4. The Vendor’s capability and credibility based on, among others, the expertise and qualifications of staff, performance track records and internal quality assurance process;
  5. Proven methodology and approach;
  6. Financial standing of the Vendor (not applicable to public IHLs);
  7. Detailed costs; and
  8. Other value added services offered by the Vendor.
  9. The Bank does not bind itself to accepting the lowest proposal or any proposal that is submitted.
  10. The Bank is not obliged to accept a proposal in its entirety and may, at the Bank’s absolute discretion, accept only parts of a proposal.
  11. The Bank is not obliged to give any reason for non-acceptance and rejection of any proposal.
  12. Terms and Conditions of the Agreement

6.1 The terms and conditions of the agreement with the Bank are provided as per Appendix A-4 for reference, which shall be incorporated into the agreement to be signed between the Bank and the successful Vendor upon award of the project.

7. Submission of Proposal

7.1 The proposal shall be duly completed, signed and enclosed in a sealed envelope marked “Study on Disclosure Requirements - Proposal” on the top left hand corner of the sealed envelope. The quotation shall be provided separately in another sealed envelope marked “Study on Disclosure Requirements – Quotation” on the top left hand corner. Both envelopes should be submitted in Tender Box A at the following address not later than [14 February 2014], 12.00 noon.

Director of Consumer and Market Conduct Department

7th Floor, Block A

Bank Negara Malaysia

Jalan Dato’ Onn

50480 Kuala Lumpur.

7.2 The submission to the Bank must be in the form of 1 (one) hardcopy document and 1 (one) softcopy (at least in Microsoft Word 2003) in CD media. Both hardcopy and softcopy must be submitted in a sealed envelope.

7.3Proposals submitted by respective Vendors must include the necessary mandatory supporting documents, SOD proposal, timeline for implementation and proposed fees/costing (in a separate sealed envelope as indicated in para 7.1 above).

7.4 Short-listed applicants may be invited to present their proposals to the Bank for evaluation and selection purposes.

7.5Non-compliance or submission by any other means other than that stipulated above will not be entertained nor considered. The Bank reserves the right to accept or reject subsequent revised submissions by participating Vendors provided that such subsequent submission(s) shall be received before the expiry of the closing date for submission of proposals.

7.6The Vendor shall promptly comply with any request made by the Bank for additional information, for clarification purposes, after the closing date of this proposal.

7.7Failure on the part of the Vendor to comply with the requirements specified herein shall invalidate the Vendor’s proposal.

8. Point of Reference

8.1The project owner for the SOD project is the Consumer and Market Conduct Department, Bank Negara Malaysia.

8.2All questions with regard to the project should be directed to the following contact persons:

Name : Pn. Aidora Mubarak/ Pn. Nurul Asyikin Hj. Yusof

Department: Consumer and Market Conduct Department

E-mail:

SECTION B – Business Requirements

  1. Introduction
  2. The Bank had mandated a comprehensive disclosure regime in 20101through an issuance of the Guidelines on Product Transparency and Disclosure, which aimed at improving information disclosure on products and services offered by financial service providers to retail consumers. The Guidelines set out the timing and content of disclosure of key information on financial products or services to promote informed decision-making by consumers. Nevertheless, complaints received by the Bank from financial consumers in the past few years on mis-selling and misrepresentation of financial products and services as well as disputes on charges and withdrawals indicate the possibility of weaknesses in the disclosure of information to Malaysian financial consumers. Recent evidence from behavioral economics studies also suggests that consumers do not always behave rationally and are subject to behavioral biases which could result in poor decisions with respect to the selection of a financial product or service.
  3. In addition, based on a survey on financial literacy of Malaysians involving over1,000 Vendors[1], the data indicates that only 39% of Malaysians gather some information, while only 3% shopped around and made independent comparisons, before purchasing a financial product.
  4. Given the above scenario, this study is intended to assess the effectiveness of mandatory disclosure requirements, in influencing sound decisions by financial consumers. The findings from this study will serve as essential inputs for the review of existing disclosure requirements and guidelines relating to fair market conduct by financial service providers.
  1. Project Objectives and Scope

The aims of this study exercise are:

2.1To determine and improve effectiveness of disclosure requirements to assist financial consumers to make informed financial decisions;

2.2To identify effective ways to improve consumer understanding of the various financial products and services in the market;

2.3To identify ways to get financial consumers to be interested in reading product disclosure documents; and

2.4To identify the type of disclosure information required by consumers in making a financial decision.

  1. Project Specifications
  2. The project is expected to commence in March 2014 and is to be completed by May 2014 with the Vendor’s delivery of the analysis and/ or report of the study.
  3. The Vendor is expected to work closely with the SOD team in the Bank in refining and executing the methodology for this project.
  4. In terms of sampling coverage, it should adequately reflect, among others, the gender, race, age, nature of employment and income distribution of the Malaysian population. Geographically, sample participants should reside in either Kuala Lumpur or Selangor, with an appropriate mix of those in the rural and urban areas. In addition, the sample should comprise financial consumers that have either secured or plan to secure the following financial products from 30 June 2012 onwards:
  5. Mortgage financing;
  6. Car loan;
  7. Structured investments/ deposits;
  8. Life insurance; and
  9. Investment-linked insurance products.
  10. The sample size of the study should be adequate, with an appropriate sampling technique applied to yield robust and non-biased results.
  11. The methodology used to conduct the study and collect required information should be effective and robust to maximize study response and yield accurate and non-biased results.
  12. The output is expected to be submitted as per the timeline to be agreed upon between the Vendor and the Bank
  13. The expected key deliverables to be submitted are in the form of:
  14. Raw and granular data in Excel format, including detailed information on the profile of interviewees;
  15. Aggregated data in Excel format; and
  16. Analysis and/ or report in Power Point presentation slides.
  1. Project Scope
  2. The selected Vendor is required to:
  3. Recommend appropriate methodologies for the study, including focus group discussions, which best meet the project objectives. The Bank is open to considering quantitative or qualitative methods, or a combination of these;
  4. Prepare and finalise the study questionnaires and any other specifications of the project in consultation with the SOD team in the Bank;
  5. Conduct the study based on the agreed methodologies. The study should be conducted exclusively for the Bank, without leveraging on other ongoing study that the Vendor is undertaking;
  6. Translate the finalised English study questionnaires into Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin as a supplement to better aid the conduct of the study and achieve more accurate results;
  7. Identify and recommend appropriate study sample size and sample selection that will adequately represent Malaysian financial consumers;
  8. Conduct the study and oversee the implementation, data compilation, quality control, cleaning and weighting the results appropriately before submitting results to the Bank;
  9. Commit appropriate key personnel with relevant expertise and experience who shall be designated for the duration of the project to supervise and conduct the study from the point of finalising questionnaires to submission of study data and analysistothe Bank; and
  10. Submit raw/ granular and compiled study data, together with a final study report containing analysis of the study results to the Bank by the agreed deadline.
  11. All information obtained from this project is strictly confidential and considered the property of the Bank. The appointed Vendor is not allowed to furnish the details of the SOD project and any information obtained through the SOD project to a third party without prior written approval of the Bank.
  1. Vendor’s Competency
  2. The Vendor shall have a good and thorough understanding of the RFP and all the requirements mentioned in the RFP document.
  3. The Vendor shall provide customer references, where similar projects have been implemented, for reference checks by the Bank.
  4. The Vendor shall demonstrate experience, expertise and the highest level of quality assurance in successfully completing similar projects.
  5. The Vendor must at all times provide adequate and competent manpower and resources, with good understanding of the objectives of the project and the ability to successfully implement the project. The project manager and key implementation team members should be designated members of the project. Any changes to the designated project manager and team members can only be made with prior notice to the Bank and upon receiving the Bank’s consent.
  1. Information to be Submitted
  2. Cover letter (Appendix A-1).
  3. Documents for mandatory requirement(Appendix A-2).
  4. SOD proposal
  5. The proposal should cover ALL specifications of the project and any additional recommendations and value added services.
  6. The proposal should also include timeline for implementation and submission of deliverables to the Bank within the stipulated time period.
  7. Evaluation of the proposal would be based on, but not limited to, the Vendor’s demonstration of the following:
  8. A clear understanding of the objectives and requirements of the project;
  9. Study methodologies which are the most appropriate to meet the project’s objectives;
  10. Sufficient experience in conducting research/ studies on similar areas;
  11. Personnel with relevant qualifications and expertise in carrying out similar research/ studies;
  12. The ability to construct study questionnaires in the most effective manner to obtain the desired information from consumers;
  13. A proven and effective internal quality assurance process and framework; and
  14. Risk mitigating measures to address potential contingencies during the project.
  15. The outline for the Vendor’s proposal to be submitted is specified in Appendix A-5.
  16. All costs incurred in the preparation of the proposal as well as for presentation to the Bank, if any, shall be borne solely by the participating Vendor.
  17. Proposed costing/quotation
  18. Participating Vendors shall provide detailed cost breakdown for each stage of the study exercise.
  19. Quotation provided shall include sales tax and other Government taxes and the price quoted shall be valid for the duration of this project.
  20. Quotations shall be provided separately from the proposal under paragraph 6.3 above. There shall be no indication of costs of the SOD project in any document other than in Appendix A-6.
  21. Vendor’s Particulars (applicable to companies and private IHLs only)
  22. Participating Vendors are required to provide the Bank with a Vendor profile as required in Appendix A-7.
  23. Please ensure that the following documents are attached:
  24. Form 9 of the Companies Act 1965 (Certification of Incorporation);
  25. Form 24 of the Companies Act 1965 (Return of Allotment of Shares);
  26. Form 49 of the Companies Act 1965 (Return Giving Particulars in Register of Directors, Manager and Secretaries and Change of Particulars); and
  27. 3 years latest audited financial statements.

Appendix A-1 – Covering Letter

Format of letter to the Bank on the Vendor’s letterhead

<Address PLACEHOLDER>

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