Justification for Other Than Full and Open _Platts DMO Subscriptions_Final.pdf

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Source Selection Information -- See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION - JUSTIFICATION FOR SOLE SOURCE

FAR 13.106-1(B)(1)(i)

CFTC intends to solicit on a sole-source basis. The following rationale is provided in accordance with the requirements of FAR 13.106-1(B)(1)(i).

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

This justification for other than full and open competition has been prepared by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”), Financial Management Branch, 1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The action being approved is award of a firm-fixed-price contract to S&P Global Platts, for subscription and data access.

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

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposes to enter into a contract with S&P Global Platts (S&P) for access to various online publications and access to market related data that is only available from S&P Global. This contract will provide subscriptions and data that facilitate the Commission’s ability to complete duties required as a result of the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank). The list of these subscriptions is below:

Market Data - Petroleum Package (Bloomberg: Terminal) Market Data - Petroleum Package - History (Bloomberg: Terminal) Market Data Dynamic Package Market Data - Natural Gas - GD - Package - North America - Daily (Bloomberg Terminal) Market Data - Natural Gas - GM - Package - North America - Monthly (Bloomberg Market Data - Natural Gas - GD - Package - North America - Daily (Refinitiv) Market Data - Natural Gas - GM - Package - North America - Monthly (Refinitiv Market Data Dynamic Package - History Market Data - Natural Gas - GD - History Package - North America - Daily (Refinitiv) Market Data - Natural Gas - GM - History Package - North America - Monthly (Refinitiv) Metals Daily Package (Web) - Washington - DC Metals Daily Package (Web) - New York

Online access to market data, reports and information is vital for CFTC Staff in performing oversight and investigatory responsibilities of the agency. The contract is for a base period of one (1) year, with two (2) one-year option periods. The award price, including options, is $225,063.28.

4. An identification of the authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The authority permitting other than full and open competition for this requirement is FAR 13.106-1(B)(1)(i) “exclusive licensing agreements.”

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The information in the S&P Platts subscriptions is proprietary to S&P and CFTC knows of no alternative source that can provide the information offered in the subscriptions listed above. Without access to this data, CFTC’s regulatory operations would be significantly impeded and there would be an increased risk to achieving CFTC’s mission.

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

Pursuant to the requirements of FAR 5.201(b) (1) (i), CFTC posted a pre-solicitation notice of its intent to enter into a contract with S&P on a sole source basis. The notice described CFTC’s requirements, and stated that it would consider responses from all responsible sources received. The announcement was posted on July 11, 2020 with a response date of July 20, 2020. No responses to the announcement were received. Therefore, negotiations were conducted with S&P on a non-competitive basis.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

S&P submitted a quote that is reasonable and allows the CFTC to have access to required market information and data needed to fulfill agency market responsibilities. The cost is determined to be fair and reasonable for the subscriptions and data access renewals based on a comparison with historical rates paid by the agency for similar access to data.

Further, the contractor has capped the escalation of the option year pricing to 5% for each period.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

The CFTC Division offices identify sources for publications and data (both online and hard copy) that are needed to facilitate the fulfillment of their responsibilities. Because of the regulatory responsibilities of the agency, the required subscriptions and data are unique and highly specialized. The Contracting Officer verified that the contractor is in fact the only supplier of the needed data. However, as described in section 6 of this justification, and per the requirements of FAR 5.201(b) (1) (i) CFTC posted a notice in BetaSAM of the Commission’s intent to negotiate a contract for the needed subscriptions on a sole source basis. The announcement stated that all responses would be considered, but none were received.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

N/A

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

As stated in sections 6 and 8 of this justification, no sources expressed an interest in this requirement. No responses were received to the BetaSAM notice.

11. A statement of the 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.

Due to the nature of this acquisition, competition is limited to the sole source for publishing the required data/publications needed to carry-out the responsibilities of the agency. When completing subsequent acquisitions for this requirement, the agency will follow all mandated procedures for competing the requirement.

Certifications and Approvals

Contracting Officer’s Certification I certify that the data supporting the recommendation to solicit and award on an other than full and open competitive basis is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Benjamin Van Wormer Date Contracting Officer

07/23/2020