Questions.pdf

Question Government Response

Regional coverage. Will EXIM consider establishing a BPA with a vendor whose proposed coverage is concentrated in one region, such as South and Southeast Asia and Korea, rather than worldwide?

If so, will BPA Calls for a given country be competed only among BPA holders that have demonstrated coverage in that country?

Worldwide coverage is not stated as a minimum eligibility requirement. However, as provided in Sections 6.1 and 6.5, broader verified country coverage is a significant comparative evaluation consideration, and vendors demonstrating credible operational capability in a greater number of countries may receive more favorable consideration, all other factors being equal.

Past performance through local counsel.

Where the prime coordinates and oversees licensed local counsel, may recovery, enforcement or collection matters performed by the prime's proposed local counsel (Category 3) count toward the three required past performance examples, provided the counsel's role is clearly identified?

Yes, provided the submitted project demonstrates the Vendor's own relevant role and responsibility for the work. Past performance involving local counsel may be submitted where the Vendor coordinated, managed, supervised, or otherwise had an accountable role in the recovery, enforcement, collection, restructuring, or asset-recovery effort. The quotation must clearly identify the Vendor's role and the role performed by local counsel or other third parties.

Consistent with Factor Two, greater evaluation consideration may be given to projects demonstrating performance as the prime contractor or primary accountable entity, the Vendor's direct role in performance, and effective oversight of local counsel, subcontractors, investigators, or partners.

Evidence of Category 3 coverage. Is a signed, non-exclusive teaming and local counsel agreement, naming the firm, its licensed lawyers and the country covered, sufficient evidence of a "current written arrangement," or does EXIM require specific terms or exclusivity?

A current written, non-exclusive arrangement may constitute acceptable evidence of Category 3 coverage. Exclusivity is not required by the solicitation. The documentation should be sufficient to demonstrate that the arrangement is current and supports credible operational capability in the country claimed.

EXIM reserves the right to verify the claimed relationship, licensing, staffing, operational capability, and other information relevant to the proposed coverage. The existence of an agreement alone does not guarantee evaluation credit;

evaluation will consider the credibility and demonstrated operational capability associated with the claimed coverage.

Anticipated workload. Can EXIM share the approximate number of cases expected per year, and the countries or regions where current paid claims are concentrated, so vendors can focus their coverage where it is most useful?

EXIM is not providing a guaranteed or estimated annual case volume or country/region distribution beyond the information contained in the solicitation. Actual BPA Call requirements will depend on EXIM's needs during the BPA ordering period. Vendors should propose their capabilities based on the worldwide scope of the solicitation and identify all countries for which they seek evaluation credit.

Pricing structure. May vendors propose country- or region-specific due diligence fees, and a separate contingency rate for recoveries that require EXIM-approved litigation, as part of the supplemental pricing described in Section 2?

Yes. Vendors may submit supplemental country- or region-specific pricing, including alternative due diligence pricing and supplemental pricing associated with optional or follow-on activities.

Vendors may also identify proposed pricing applicable to EXIM-approved litigation, provided the pricing is clearly identified and explained.

Vendors must still submit prices for both CLIN 0001 and CLIN 0002 as required by Section 2. Any litigation or extraordinary expense outside the authorized scope requires advance written Government approval, and the final authorized price and payment terms for an assignment will be established in the applicable BPA Call.

Local licensing restrictions. In jurisdictions where commercial debt-collection services are restricted by law, such as Vietnam, is it acceptable for all recovery activity to be performed exclusively through licensed local lawyers and court processes?

Yes, where required by applicable law and otherwise consistent with the BPA Call. The solicitation requires contractors to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, licensing requirements, professional-responsibility requirements, and judicial rules in each jurisdiction. Where local law requires recovery or enforcement activity to be performed through duly licensed or otherwise legally authorized local counsel, a Vendor may propose performance through such counsel.

The Vendor must accurately identify the applicable coverage category and proposed local resource and must not represent local counsel or another unrelated third party as a Vendor-owned office.

Any litigation or legal proceeding requires the written authorization specified in the solicitation.

Section 1.4 requires active SAM registration at the time of BPA establishment, while Section 5.1 asks for the CAGE code and active SAM status in the technical quotation. Will EXIM accept a quotation from a vendor whose SAM registration is in process at the time of submission, provided the registration is active before BPA establishment?

Consistent with Section 1.4, a Vendor must have an active SAM registration at the time of BPA establishment and as required during performance. No BPA will be established with a Vendor unless the required SAM registration is active at the time of BPA establishment.

Will EXIM consider establishing a BPA with a vendor whose verified coverage is regional (for example, Latin America and the Caribbean) rather than worldwide?

Worldwide coverage is not stated as a minimum eligibility requirement. However, as provided in Sections 6.1 and 6.5, broader verified country coverage is a significant comparative evaluation consideration, and vendors demonstrating credible operational capability in a greater number of countries may receive more favorable consideration, all other factors being equal.

For Factor Two, may a vendor submit projects performed by its proposed key personnel before the firm was formed?

May relevant valuation, asset-disposition, or credit-workout projects be submitted, in addition to collection projects?

Factor Two evaluates the Vendor's demonstrated past performance. Projects performed solely by proposed key personnel before the Vendor was formed will not be treated as the Vendor's past performance for purposes of satisfying the requirement to submit three past performance projects.

Vendors may, however, describe relevant prior experience of proposed key personnel as part of their technical approach and key personnel qualifications.

For Factor Two, Vendors may submit projects involving recovery, enforcement, collection, restructuring, or asset-recovery activities.

Valuation, asset-disposition, credit-workout, or similar activities may be included where the project demonstrates relevant recovery, restructuring, enforcement, collection, or asset-recovery experience consistent with Factor Two. The Government will evaluate the relevance of each project based on its demonstrated similarity in size, scope, complexity, geographic breadth, legal environment, and the Vendor's role in performance.

Can EXIM share which countries or regions are expected to account for most BPA Calls, and approximately how many BPAs EXIM anticipates establishing?

EXIM is not identifying specific countries or regions expected to account for the majority of future BPA Calls. Actual requirements will depend on EXIM's needs during the BPA ordering period. Vendors should identify all countries for which they currently possess credible and verifiable operational capability and seek evaluation credit.

May case documents and reports be stored and processed in a U.S.-region commercial cloud environment that meets federal security standards, or does EXIM require a specific environment?

Vendors shall describe their proposed information-security, data-protection, and records-handling controls as required by the solicitation. Any storage, transmission, or processing of EXIM information must comply with the security, privacy, records-handling, data-protection, and other requirements applicable to the information involved and any additional requirements identified in the applicable BPA or BPA Call.

Factor Two: Where a vendor will perform through formal written partners (Category 3), may those partners' own recovery projects be submitted as the three required past performance examples, clearly identified as performed by the partner?

No. Factor Two evaluates the Vendor's demonstrated past performance.

If a vendor submits fewer than three projects of its own, will the quotation be found unacceptable, or evaluated as neutral or limited past performance?

Factor Two requires the Vendor to submit three (3) or more completed or ongoing past performance projects. As stated in Section 6.2, failure to submit three past performance examples may result in the quotation being evaluated as incomplete or unacceptable.

May a vendor propose coverage for selected countries or regions rather than worldwide coverage?

Yes. A Vendor may propose coverage for selected countries or regions. Worldwide coverage is not established as a minimum eligibility requirement. However, consistent with Sections 6.1 and 6.5, breadth of verified worldwide country coverage is a significant comparative evaluation consideration. Vendors demonstrating credible operational capability in a greater number of countries may be evaluated more favorably than Vendors demonstrating credible capability in fewer countries, all other considerations being equal.

How will BPAs under this solicitation relate to the country-specific Recovery Services BPAs (83310127Q0001 through Q0006)?

Solicitation 83310127Q0007 is a separate worldwide acquisition from the country-specific Recovery Services BPA solicitations identified.

Section 7.1 notes that the provision-and-clause matrix will be inserted.

Could you please provide the completed matrix?

Clauses are listed on the SF1449