Tender for a Contract on the delivery of ESG data and a screening tool to ensure compliance with ESG guidelines

Kort beskrivelse

​​​​​Danmarks Nationalbank (hereafter the contracting authority) is the central bank of Denmark and is a self-governing, independent institution. The independence of the contracting authority is incorporated into the Danmarks Nationalbank Act from 1936, in that the bank's Board of Governors is solely responsible for determining monetary-policy interest rates. the contracting authority's three main objectives are to contribute to ensuring stable prices, safe payments and a stable financial system.

Beskrivelse af udbuddet

Climate change is impacting society already today, and will have further consequences in the future. In order to address any material impact on these objectives of climate change and the transition, the contracting authority is assessing how the transformations will impact the economy and financial system. The contracting authority is with this contract committed to integrating climate-related financial risks into its monitoring and assessment of risks to the financial system and to build capacity around data on environmental, social, and governance factors in companies, i.e. ESG data.
The contracting authority manages the Danish foreign exchange reserve. The reserve mainly consists of Euro-denominated money market instruments and liquid bonds. A smaller part of the reserve is invested in European or US equities and corporate bonds. The contracting authority is a passive investor who targets broad indices. The investments need to comply with principles for responsible investments (ESG guidelines) that outline certain exclusion criteria. For this reason, the contracting authority needs a screening tool to easily screen its portfolio for compliance with ESG guidelines.
The Supplier shall with this contract deliver relevant ESG data as specified below:
• ESG data should cover securities to the greatest extent possible, at national (Denmark) and international level, including, but not limited to, the following investment universes:
• Fixed income
• Equities
• Funds
• ESG ratings should be provided at the ISIN level to ensure unique identification
• Access to all of the underlying data feeding into the ESG ratings, as well as to a decomposition of the E, S and G components and scores
• Greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3) and greenhouse gas intensities
• Forward-looking climate data such as, but not limited to, temperature alignments (e.g. implied temperature rise, warming potential, Paris alignment)
• Historical ESG data including ESG ratings and greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1, 2, and 3)
• Reference to the original source of the data indicating whether the data are estimated by the data provider or collected from a company’s annual report or other financial reports, as well as the financial year.
Upon availability data should cover:
• Derivatives (via LEI identification codes)
• Unlisted equities (via LEI identification codes)
The contracting authority needs a screening tool that easily screens the Danish foreign exchange reserve’s portfolio according to principles for responsible investments including exclusion criteria.
The Supplier shall ensure that the underlying sources of data used in the screening model, which the contracting authority will use to screen the Danish foreign exchange reserve portfolio, is based on valid and high-quality data.
It shall be possible for the contracting authority to upload a large portfolio of companies from a list of ISIN's, Bloomberg tickers or similar, from a .txt or .csv-file, in order to perform a company level assessment including, but not limited to, the following:
• Involvement in cluster munitions, landmines or chemical- and biological weapons
• Conflicts with UN Global Compact
• Breaches of the Non-Proliferation Treaty
• Involvement in coal, oil, and gas, both conventional and unconventional
• Greenhouse gas emission intensity, scope 3 included
• The degree to which the company manages material risks related to a transition to a low-emission economy
• The degree to which the company’s (or companies contained in an index) activities and emission targets are aligned with the temperature scenarios set forth in the Paris Agreement.
The Supplier has explained how the assessment links to, or builds upon, industry standards, e.g. GHG Protocol, TCFD etc. for each area.

Liste og kortfattet beskrivelse af udvælgelseskriterier

The tenderer must submit the ESPD with the following information:
A list of the 5 most significant comparable services, see sections II.1.4) and II.2.4), that the tenderer has carried out in the latest 3 before the expiry of the deadline for submission of tender.
Only references relating to services carried out at the time of submission of tender will be given importance in the evaluation of [whether the minimum requirements regarding technical and professional capacity have been complied with, see below. Hence, in the case of an ongoing task, only the part of the services already performed at the time of submission of tender will be included in the evaluation of the reference.
Each reference is requested to include a brief description of the deliveries made. The description of the delivery should include a clear description of the services set out in sections II.1.4) and II.2.4) to which the delivery related and the tenderer's role(s) in the performance of the delivery. The reference is furthermore requested to include the financial value of the delivery (amount), the date of delivery and the name of the customer (recipient).
When indicating the date of the delivery, the tenderer is requested to indicate the date of commencement and finalisation of the delivery. If this is not possible, for example if the tasks were performed on a continuous basis under a framework agreement, the tenderer is asked to indicate how the date is specified.
No more than 5 references may be stated, irrespective of whether the tenderer is a single operator, whether the tenderer relies on the technical capacity of other entities, or is a group of operators (e.g. a consortium).
If the tenderer relies on the professional experience of other entities for the performance of specific parts of the services comprised by the contract, see section II.2.4), such specific parts of the services under the contract must be performed by the entity on which the tenderer relies.
The ESPD serves as provisional documentation that the tenderer fulfils the minimum suitability requirements in respect of technical and professional ability, see section III.1.3).
Before the award decision is made, the tenderer to whom the contracting entity intends to award the contract must submit documentation that the information stated in the ESPD is accurate.
No additional documentation of technical and professional capacity will be required from the tenderer. However, the contracting entity reserves the right to contact the tenderer or the customer stated in the reference for verification of the information stated in the reference, including the dates of the reference indicated.

Betingelser for deltagelse (tekniske og faglige kvalifikationer)

As a minimum requirement, the tenderer shall document at least one reference where the tenderer has delivered similar services as described in section II.1.4) and II.2.4).

Betingelser for opfyldelse af kontrakten

The contract has incorporated the corporate social responsibility considerations, as appropriate, as laid down in the conventions on the basis of which the principles of the UN Global Compact are worded and as laid down in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Participation in the tendering procedure may only take place by electronic means via the electronic tendering system used by the contracting entity, see the address set out in section I.3). For access to the procurement documents, the tenderer must be registered or register as a user.
If the tender contains several versions of the same document, the latest uploaded version will apply.
All communication in connection with the tender procedure, including questions and answers, must take place through the electronic tendering system. Questions must be submitted not later than 21 February 2022. Questions asked after this date will be answered if they are received in time for the contracting entity to provide the information required and communicate the answers not later than six days before expiry of the application deadline. Questions received later than six days before expiry of the deadline cannot expect to be answered unless the deadline is also postponed.
Interested operators are requested to keep updated via the electronic tendering system. If the tenderer encounters problems with the system, please contact support by e-mail, dksupport@eu-supply.com, or telephone (+45) 70 20 80 14.
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The tenderer must together with its tender submit an ESPD as preliminary documentation of the circumstances set out in section 148(1), paras 1-3 of the Danish Public Procurement Act (udbudsloven). It is not necessary for the Tenderer to sign the ESPD document. For groups of operators (e.g. a consortium), a separate ESPD must be submitted for each participating operator. Where the Tenderer is a group of operators, the ESPD document of each participant in the group must be signed by the participant in question. The Tenderer heading the group and submitting the tender is not required to sign its ESPD document. If the tenderer relies on the capacities of other entities, an ESPD must be submitted for and signed by each of the entities on which it relies.
The tenderer will be excluded from participation in the tender procedure if the tenderer is subject to the compulsory grounds for exclusion set out in sections 135 and 136 of the Danish Public Procurement Act, unless the tenderer has submitted sufficient documentation of its reliability in accordance with section 138 of the Danish Public Procurement Act.
Before the award decision is made, the tenderer to whom the contracting entity intends to award the contract must provide documentation of the information submitted in the ESPD pursuant to sections 151-152, cf. section 153 of the Danish Public Procurement Act .
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Further information:
As regards sections II.1.5) and II.2.6), it should be noted that the amount is an estimate of the expected contract price for the entire term of the contract, including the price of all options. The estimate is based on the contracting authorities estimates of future consumption
As regards section II.2.7), it is to be noted that the indicated term will commence on the date of access to the Solution. In addition to the indicated duration of contract, an expiry phase that is flexible in time will be required when the contract is at an end in order to ensure an undisturbed continuation of delivery of ESG data and a screening tool in connection with a possible retender.
The contracting entity may use the procedure of section 159(5) of the Danish Public Procurement Act in the event that applications or tenders do not comply with the formal requirements of the procurement documents.

Præcise oplysninger om fristerne for gennemgangsprocedurer

Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
Pursuant to the Danish Act on the Complaints Board for Public Procurement, etc. (lov om Klagenævnet for Udbud m.v.) (the Act is available (in Danish) at www.retsinformation.dk), the following deadlines apply to the lodging of complaints:
Complaints for not having been selected must be submitted to the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement before the expiry of 20 calendar days, see section 7(1) of the Act, from the day after submission of notification to the candidates concerned of the identity of the successful tenderer where the notification is accompanied by an explanation of the grounds for the decision in accordance with section 2(1), para (1) of the Act and section 171(2) of the Danish Public Procurement Act.
In other situations, complaints of award procedures, see section 7(2) of the Act, must be lodged with the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement before the expiry of:
1) 45 calendar days after the contracting entity has published a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union that the contracting entity has entered into a contract. The deadline is calculated from the day after the day when the notice was published.
2) 30 calendar days calculated from the day after the day when the contracting entity has notified the candidates concerned that a contract based on a framework agreement with reopening of competition or a dynamic purchasing system has been entered into where the notification has included an explanation of the relevant grounds for the decision.
3) 6 months after the contracting entity entered into a framework agreement calculated from the day after the day when the contracting entity notified the candidates and tenderers concerned, see section 2(2) of the Act and section 171(4) of the Danish Public Procurement Act.
4) 20 calendar days calculated from the day after the contracting entity has submitted notification of its decision, see section 185(2) of the Danish Public Procurement Act.
Not later than at the time of lodging a complaint with the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement, the complainant must notify the contracting entity in writing that a complaint has been lodged with the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement and whether the appeal was lodged during the standstill period, see section 6(4) of the Act. In cases where the complaint was not lodged within the standstill period, the complainant must furthermore indicate whether a suspensory effect of the complaint has been requested, see section 12(1) of the Act.
The e-mail address of the Complaints Board for Public Procurement is set out in section VI.4.1.
The Complaints Board’s own complaints procedure is available at https://naevneneshus.dk/start-din-klage/klagenaevnet-for-udbud/vejledning/