RFI-0002- Request for Information- Electronic Access to Financial Data- Final.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Electronic Access to Financial Data

Comprehensive Multiple File- Quantitative & Qualitative Data

Applied Research & Methods Department

A. Description

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ) or a promise to issue an RFQ in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Government is not at this time seeking quotes and will not accept unsolicited quotes. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFQ, if any is issued.

B. Background

GAO is an independent agency that functions as the investigative arm of the United States Congress. As part of its investigatory function and at the request of the US Congress, GAO analyzes and evaluates executive branch agency programs.

The Government, in support of the Applied Research & Methods Department, is seeking information on vendors interested in and capable of providing comprehensive multiple file quantitative and qualitative data and electronic access to an information resource or database. The electronic database will provide information to assist and support GAO in completing congressionally requested analyses that can cover a wide variety of topics. GAO often needs large database resources to provide documentary or quantitative evidence to support their analytic findings. Examples of these analytic findings are found on the agency’s web site: http://www.gao.gov.

C. Scope

GAO’s objective is to procure a compatible product, with the offerings as described below, in the commercial market place.

The requirements for this database purchase support analyses in various areas including, but not limited to:

1) financial markets and interest rates; 2) ongoing efforts to monitor and report on global financial and macroeconomic developments, including in the Eurozone; 3) emerging markets; 4) and global monetary policy. In addition, GAO also anticipates a need to monitor and report on developments in U.S. treasury markets, especially as they are related to debt ceiling events and market volatility. More generally, this data would support research in the following areas: financial markets and institutions; housing; income security;

international economics; efforts to update the Comptroller General and GAO Executive Committee on global financial and fiscal developments; and select work conducted by other GAO teams requiring access to financial or other time series data.

http://www.gao.gov/

D. Requirements

Required System Components & General Functions

Minimum Product Access and Usage Specifications

The product GAO intends to purchase will need to have the following minimum access requirements:

1. Be accessible via an Internet URL, a desk-top application, or an application added-on to Microsoft

Excel, or a combination of the three methods.

2. We intend to purchase an appropriate number of licensed user accounts.

a. The purchased licensed accounts should be held by individuals or by groups of individuals on an as needed basis at the discretion of GAO. Specifically, the accounts GAO intends to purchase should be at the discretion of GAO assignable to specific individuals/seats or the accounts should allow for multiple non-concurrent users. The accounts for multiple non-concurrent users should provide access without restriction to all the data indexed and available on the system. The accounts assigned to multiple users could be located at a single workstation or available by request to anyone in GAO at the user’s workstation.

3. The data described below must be accessible via a single product interface.

a. Any product access applications or Excel add-on applications must be submitted to GAO’s

ISTS team for compatibility testing in GAO’s VDI environment. Add-ons that are not compatible with GAO’s VDI environment will render the database product unacceptable.

4. The product should allow for excel data downloads either via direct search access or via a within

Excel add-on that connects directly to the product.

5. Products (or combinations of products) which require multiple interfaces are not acceptable nor are products/services that require specialists to build specialized spreadsheets or data sets. The product

GAO will purchase should be already commercially available with no special builds required.

6. GAO analysts will rely on the information and data indexed in the product to support GAO engagements. As such, the data and information will need to be accompanied by white papers or other documentation showing the sources and origin of the indexed database content.

7. The data and information housed in the product will be used with proper citation in GAO audit documentation and GAP reports and testimony. All data used to support GAO engagements will be saved in GAO’s records repository and managed in accordance with GAO’s records retention schedule.

8. For trace and verification purposes, product data will be accessed by account holders and shared with nonusers.

9. Retain downloaded files for future analyses and make available for reuse for multiple analyses and multiple GAO engagements.

Additional Requirements

1. Additional database functionality includes, but is not limited to:

a. There must be no limits on the number of searches performed in the database

b. There must be no limits on downloads of data sets.

c. For statistical analysis purposes, data sets must be easily downloadable in multiple formats like excel, delimited, or other common electronic format.

d. The database must allow the user to download historical economic, country, regional, vendor and market data in a format suitable for analysis in Excel and other statistical software packages (e.g., SAS, Stata, R, etc.)

e. The database must allow data downloads from within the Microsoft Excel interface, via an Excel

Add-In tool)

a. Specifically, users should be able to program a search strategy from within Excel. Excel will then call the data from the product to be downloaded into the open Excel workbook.

f. The database must allow for the creation of panel datasets using historical data across countries, regions and institutions

g. The database must have an inventory of standard and customizable reports for individual corporations or groups of corporations

h. The database must allow the user to use search parameters from an outside source and run them against database content—for example, run a list of stock tickers from Nasdaq listings against the database to retrieve additional corporate information.

i. The search engine should allow for search strategies based on a single data element name, combinations of element names, industry data norms such as stock ticker symbol, CUSIP, NAICS code, GICs Code, etcetera, or via plain language with intuitive, context-driven, search term suggestions.

2. The database user accounts must be:

a. Concurrent for the appropriate number of licensed users. Should vendor pricing differ based on the number of users, vendors must provide appropriate pricing information for use by concurrent users

b. Easily transferable should a user leave or retire from the agency, or is no longer staffed to a relevant engagement as determined by GAO.

c. At the discretion of GAO, the accounts should allow for multiple non-concurrent users. This type of account can be located at a specific GAO workstation or upon request as needed for use at the

GAO employee’s workstation.

3. Other vendor services must include:

a. Customer usage statistics on a monthly basis for the purpose of product usage analysis

b. Software installation trouble-shooting in-person or via telephone at initial service set-up and technical support available as needed throughout the period of performance

c. Any and all upgrades, updates, patches, bug fixes, new releases, or enhancements to the product, which the vendor does not elect to separately price or market and which are made available to licensor’s general client base

d. On-site user training, in person or via webinar when requested

e. Materials to assist users such as user guides and other documentation supplied within 30 days of contract award and throughout the period of performance as needed

f. 24 hour/7 day customer support services for search, data download, and other technical issues; to be provided via telephone, email, or instant message while the users in in the product

Requirements for Specific Tasks & Components

The online product should provide access to comprehensive economic and financial time-series data with breadth and depth across global asset classes including but not limited to, equities, bonds (including emerging market and sovereign debt), municipals, commodities and other financial vehicles such as options, convertibles, warrants, mortgage-backed securities and structured products. Worldwide coverage should also include funds and trusts, interest and exchange rates, money markets, credit default swaps, indices and market statistics.

1. Specifically, the vendor will provide the following data elements with a minimum 15-year history or coverage:

a. Quarterly SEC income statement and balance sheet financials and derived ratios (i.e., total assets, leverage, return on equity, and analytical measures of risk derived from balance sheet data)

b. Data collected from SEC Form 13-F - Reports Filed by Institutional Investment Managers

(https://www.sec.gov/fast-answers/answers-form13fhtm.html). The system should provide shareholder ownership data collected from SEC Form 13-F. System should also be able to show some of the largest shareholders for publicly traded companies

c. Daily U.S. and international equity prices and equity-derived information (i.e., ticker, market capitalization, price earnings ratios, market-book value, volatility measures)

d. Daily U.S. and international bond yields and bond-derived information, for both outstanding and matured bonds (i.e., unique identifier such as CUSIP, bid-ask spread, time to maturity, multiple technical measures of bond spreads—including explanations of how spreads are calculated) and bond characteristics (i.e., issue size, floating vs. fixed rate, embedded options, etc.)

e. Daily U.S. and international CDS prices and liquidity indicators (i.e., bid-ask spreads)

NOTE: For all of the above data elements, companies and securities data must be searchable by industry classification standards (e.g., NAICS and/or SIC and/or GICS) such that the user can find and identify various groups of financial or other institutions (e.g., banks, insurance companies, etc.)

2. The product must contain contemporary credit ratings and detailed debt structure information for U.S.

and international financial institutions (i.e., commercial paper, deposits, rep/fed funds, senior unsecured debt, and subordinated debt).

3. In addition, the product must contain current and at least 10-year historical data in the following areas:

https://www.sec.gov/fast-answers/answers-form13fhtm.html

a. Key interest rates and spreads, such as LIBOR, Overnight, Index Swap (OIS) rates

b. Repo data (i.e., interest rate indices, collateral and dealer or third-party broker quotes)

c. Global, national, and regional corporate bond index prices, yields, and returns

d. Global, national and regional stock index prices, yields, and returns

e. Global detailed security-specific information for equity and debt securities, including corporate bond spreads.

f. Detailed U.S. Treasury prices, yields, and auction statistics

g. Detailed commercial paper interest rates

h. Detailed derivatives data (e.g., sovereign credit default swaps, equity options, swaps, and futures)

i. Key national economic indicators (e.g., national accounts, inflation, trade, professional surveys, etc.)

j. Detailed inflation expectations data

k. Detailed international trade data (by country, month, and commodity)

l. Detailed securitization data (i.e., MBS, ABS, and CDO spreads, issuance, and indices; both historical and current prepayment rates such as CPR and PSA)

m. Detailed housing and mortgage-related data (e.g., housing prices, mortgage originations, mortgage rates and spreads, yields on Fannie and Freddie bonds, foreclosures and delinquencies)

a. Ideally this data would be from multiple government or proprietary or third party sources to enable analytical comparisons for GAO analyses.

n. Detailed municipal bond data (e.g., issue and issuer characteristics such as bid-ask spreads, size, maturity); ideally the sources for this data would be proprietary such as from The Bond Buyer or other commercially available source or sources

o. Industry expert reports that are relevant to GAO’s areas of analysis such as reports that cover economic, legal, and regulatory developments in the banking, finance, and insurance industries

p. Detailed commodity data which should include data on futures contracts for multiple commodities such as cattle and other livestock

q. Comprehensive exchange rate data

r. Data on the composition of a Vendor’s Board of Directors and Executive Management, including demographics and tenure. The system should have functionality to pull such data across multiple companies at once.

NOTE: The data named in the requirements must be used, with proper acknowledgment, in multiple GAO products. Balance sheet and income statement data may be used to analyze the impact of Dodd-Frank Act regulations on covered nonbank financial institutions.

4. The product must contain transcripts of hearings and other events before the US Congress, earnings conference calls, and other records of official happenings in business and government both on a domestic and international scale.

5. There should be data tracking the supply chain of public and/or private companies across industry groups.

6. The product should contain prices of petroleum and petroleum-related products (e.g., ethanol, renewable fuels/RINs)

7. The product must contain data and disclosures related to environmental, social and, governance (i.e.

ESG) information.

8. The product must contain pricing and trading data on digital assets, such as virtual currencies.

9. The product must contain bankruptcy filings and characteristics of filers (such as industry codes)

10. The product must contain data on checking and savings account interest rates and terms (such as monthly fees, overdraft fees, insufficient funds fees, minimum balances to avoid fees).

11. The product should track international and domestic merger and acquisition activity which would show announced and settled transactions.

12. For GAO trace and verification purposes, the product must have point and click documentation leading the user from the data element to the source document showing primary data source information and other metadata for the indexed data sets.

Vendor Responses Requested

To show that the product meets the requirements stated above, a prospective vendor must provide an excel spreadsheet with a table naming the numbered requirement, a yes or no answer if the requirement is available or acceptable, and any explanation as to how the product can meet the requirement. For example:

EXAMPLE RESPONSE

Requirement Available: Yes or No Explanation

1. Mode of product access Yes URL, desktop app, or both

E. Response

Responses shall be limited to fifteen (15) pages, not including the cover page. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED.

Point of Contact for Inquiries and Submissions

RFI responses must include:

Name of Vendor

Point of Contact for the response with title/email/phone.

Vendor size, as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under NAICS code 519290.

PSC Code: DH10

Specific responses about how your solution meets with reference to the requirements stated above.

If your solution is available open market and/or via a Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) such as GSA, NASA SEWP, NITAAC, FEDLINK, etc.

Information about how prices are determined, such as by usage, fixed price, add-ons, and bundled products/services.

Whether your pricing includes add-ons or bundled products/services, details about what is included in these add-ons or bundles.

A description of any training and/or technical support you offer in conjunction with your products/services.

Other relevant or related performance objectives/tasks recommended beyond those listed in the

SOW.

Response Submission Deadline

Vendor responses are due no later than January 20, 2023 by 1:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Point of Contact for Inquiries and Submissions:

All questions regarding this RFI must be directed via email to Traenesha L. Jones, Contract Specialist, at jonest3@gao.gov and Cedric Mitchener, at mitchenerc@gao.gov with “RFI-002- Electronic Access to

Financial Data RFI” in the subject line. Questions must be received no later than January 9, 2023 at 1:00

P.M. EST. Responses to all questions received by this deadline will be posted electronically and made publicly available at www.sam.gov.

Disclaimer: This information is for GAO internal planning purposes only. All interested organizations are invited to respond. Please provide responses to the following statements and/or questions and organize your responses accordingly.

mailto:jonest3@gao.gov mailto:mitchenerc@gao.gov http://www.sam.gov/