J&A_2018-111.pdf

UNITID STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE C01~~11SSION

100 TSTREEI', NE

WASFID~'G'I'ON, DC 2Q549

OFFICE OF

AC'Q UISITIONS

JUSTIFICATION FOR SOLE SOURCE ACQUISITION

RQ 63000-18-0301

J&A Number: 2018-111

Upon the basis of the following just cation, I, as the Competition Advocate, hereby approve the use of Janited competition of the proposed contractual action pursuant the authority of FAR Part

13.5 in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency Requirements.

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a "Justification for other than full and open competition."

U.S. Sectuities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549

This document serves a Justification for a sole source just cation.

2. Nature and Description ofAction Being Approved:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Comrnission (SEC) intends to award a contract on a sole source basis to Bnightscope Inc. for subscription to a web-based platform that provides data pertaining to Employee Retu~ement Income Security Act (ERISA) Plans, including aggregated data from the Department of Labor's Schedule 5500 that is cross-referenced with public filings data from the SEC and FINR.A.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value).

The SEC requ~es aggregated Deparnnent of Labor (DOL) data expressed on Form 5500, whucl~ is associated to registrant uiformation contained in public FTNRA and EDGAR filings/data. Employee Retirement Income Security (ERISA)-covered plans file form 5500 with

DOL annually. This filing serves as the annual report for these employee benefit plans. In addition to the data itself, the SEC requires a data query and visualization method (front-end) from which to easily access the desu~ed data.

The SEC intends to award the contract for a base period of performance for of 12-months, and four 12-month Option Periods. The total estimated value of the Base Period is ~. which will use FY 18 funds. The total estimated value of the contract is

4. An Identification of the statutory Authority for OtherThan Full and Open Competition:

FAR Part I3.5 in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires use ofthe authority cited:

BrightScope Inc.'s product: Brightscope Beacon is unique ui its data provisioning, data aggregation and reporting on ERISA/retirement assets managed by SEC registrants. This product combines Form 5500 data with publicly available EDGAR and FINRA data to match

ERISA plans to the SEC registrants (and private funds) manag~g such assets. The product also provides search/query functions with respect to specific ERISA plans, SEC registrants, and private funds. Additionally, it has corresponding information on registrant representatives and investment advisers managing on behalf of SEC registrants. BrightScope Beacon is the only identified product that tracks ERISA P]an information alongside the advisers and brokers who recommend or manage these ERISA assets. Additionally, there is no other product ident~ed that provides the required data aggregation/association between form 5500 data and

FINRA/EDGAR filuigs. Due to these unique data provisioning and reporting/query features, BrightScope Beacon is the only product that can fiilty meet the SEC's requirements.

6. A description ofefforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

The SEC posted Sources Sought Notice: 50310218Q0042 on April O5, 2018 and received responses from two companies: Brightscope Inc. and The SEC reviewed both responses and found that only Brightscope Inc. fully meets the requirements. The SEC found that does not fully meet the requirements for the following reasons:

1.

3. _

Tt~e SEC Office of Acquisitions (OA) posted a Synopsis on FedBizOpps on August 2, 2018 with notice of the SEC's intent to award a sole source procurement to Brightscope Inc. m accordance with FAR 5.201. The SEC will review any responses received.

7. Determination by the Contracting Ot~cer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The anticipated cost to the government is determined to be fair and reasonable.

8. A description ofthe market research conducted and the results or a statement ofthe reason market research was not conducted:

Market research was conducted includuig issuance of a Sources Sought Notice (50310218Q0042) and a product demo of Brightscope's Beacon product. Market research is fully documented im the Market Research Report.

9. Any otherfacts supportinb the use ofotherthan full and open competition:

None.

10. A listing of the sources, if any that expressed, in writing an interest in the acquisition:

Brightscope Inc. and are the only sources that have expressedmterest in this procurement. If any other sources express uiterest m the future, a list of sources will be ma~ztained in the contract file.

11. A statement ofthe actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

The SEC will perform market research for future acquisitions for the pw-pose of verifying the sole source nature of this requirement.

12. Required Signatures:

TECHNICAL &REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATIONS: Tcertify that the facts and representations which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete.

(Signature)

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this just cation is accurate and complete to the best of my Imowledge and belief.

(Signature)

GENERAL COUNSEL REVIEW: Based upon the facts and rationale presented herein, this justification appears legally sufficient.

(Sib ature)

PROCURING ACTIVITY COMPETITION ADVOCATE APPROVAL: I have reviewed this just cation and fmd it to be accurate and complete to the best of my lrnowledge and belief.

Since t}us justification does not exceed $13.SM, this review serves as approval

(Signature)