Tendarix.ca
1.0 PROJECT TITLE
Standing Offer Agreement - Trustees for the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB)
2.0 OBJECTIVE
The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB) is seeking to establish a Standing Offer Agreement (SOA) in order to have at its disposal a list of suppliers who can act as trustees upon request from the Superintendent of Bankruptcy in the context of conservatory measures under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). Suppliers must hold individual or corporate licences under the BIA. The services of the selected trustees will be required depending on the needs of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB). It is expected that at least one (1) Standing Offer Agreement (SOA) per province or territory will be established as a result of the Request for Standing Offer (RFSO). The bidders need to qualify in the province(s) or territory(ies) where they want to offer their services. The SOA shall be in effect for an initial period of one (1) year with four (4) possible contract extensions of one (1) year.
3.0 BACKGROUND
The Superintendent of Bankruptcy supervises the administration of estates and matters to which the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) applies. The BIA provides mechanisms enabling insolvent persons to be financially rehabilitated, and ensures the equitable and orderly distribution of debtors’ property among their creditors. Among the available options, insolvent persons may voluntarily assign their property. One or more of the creditors may also cause the insolvent person to become bankrupt by means of an application filed with the court. The BIA also enables insolvent persons to make a proposal to their creditors to alter the terms of their debt repayment. Bankruptcies and proposals are administered by private-sector professionals licensed as trustees by the Superintendent in accordance with the terms and conditions of the BIA. In the context of their administration, trustees realize the property of bankrupts or collect payments pursuant to proposals. Monies collected are deposited in a trust account managed by the trustee. The trustee has fiduciary duties with regard to the management of these funds and must keep adequate books and records relating to them.
3.1 The OSB’s responsibility with regard to trustee’s administration of estates
The Superintendent of Bankruptcy issues licences authorizing trustees in bankruptcy to carry out their duties and the BIA confers on the Superintendent the power to cancel, suspend, or place conditions or limitations on the licences of bankruptcy trustees. The Superintendent of Bankruptcy may initiate conservatory measures in the circumstances set out in subsection 14.03(2) of the BIA and may, pursuant to subsection 14.03(1) of the BIA, direct a person to take possession of the assets in order to protect them and to preserve the rights of creditors, the debtor and any other person having an interest in the insolvency proceeding. Conservatory measures may be taken, for example, when a trustee neglects to pay the established licensing fees, upon the death of a trustee, when a trustee becomes unable to perform the duties of a trustee, if a trustee is found guilty of an indictable offence that would render the trustee unable to perform the duties of trustee, or if the trustee becomes insolvent or does not comply with the conditions and limitations to which the licence is subject. In addition, conservatory measures may be taken if the trustee is the subject of an investigation that identifies offences and problems in the administration of estates that necessitate action being taken to protect the estates. In such cases, the Superintendent of Bankruptcy may request or direct a person as trustee in order to protect the estates and complete their administration.
Further to the Superintendent’s authority as set out in subsection 14.03 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA), when a requirement for trustee services related to conservatory measures is identified, the OSB may first approach trustees who are SOA Holders to determine if a trustee will agree to accept the work without any financial obligation on the part of the OSB (i.e. at no charge to the OSB).
3.2 Background on procurement methods
In 2011, an SOA was established to create a list of suppliers to act as guardian trustees (Reference No.: IC800075). Five (5) bidders qualified: one for the provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia, and four (4) for the province of Quebec. Consequently, there is no qualified list of suppliers for the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador, or the territories of Nunavut, Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
The OSB is seeking to enable more suppliers to offer their services and have the potential to obtain contracts as trustees. As a result, the RFSO has been designed to minimize the effort required for Trustees to apply and qualify, and reporting requirements have been aligned with normal administrative requirements. The OSB has also revised the requirements to better meet its needs and provide it with the necessary flexibility to respond to the various circumstances that may result from conservatory measures. The OSB has taken into consideration respect for the fees and rates set out in the BIA, as well as its fiscal responsibilities. Furthermore the resulting SOA will also include a rotational system such that every qualified SOA holder will have the opportunity to administer estates if the need arises.
With the objective of enhancing access to potential contracts and encouraging competition, the OSB will be cancelling SOA IC800075 as soon as the new SOA resulting from RFSO IC800080, comes into effect.
4.0 MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS
To be considered responsive, a proposal must meet all of the mandatory requirements of this Request for Standing Offer. Below are the Mandatory Requirements that form part of this RFSO document.
4.1 Information
A) If the Bidder holds an individual trustee licence, the proposal must indicate the following information:
The Bidder’s proposal must also indicate whether the Bidder holds an individual trustee licence to administer:
The form “Individual Trustee License Information” in Appendix “A” of this Request for Standing Offer is provided for this purpose. The Bidder is recommended to complete this form and include it with the proposal.
B) If the Bidder holds a corporate trustee licence, the proposal must indicate the following information:
The Bidder’s proposal must also indicate whether the Bidder holds a corporate trustee licence to administer:
The form “Corporate Trustee License Information” in Appendix “B” of the Request for Standing Offers is provided for this purpose. The Bidder is recommended to complete this form and include it with the proposal.
If the Bidder holds a corporate trustee licence, the proposal must designate at least one trustee with an individual trustee licence for each province and/or territory it intends to serve. The Bidder’s proposal must also provide the information on the individual trustee requested in Section 4.1 A above.
4.2 Declaration
A) If the Bidder holds an individual trustee licence, the Bidder must complete the declarations required for the Request for Standing Offer found in Appendix “C”. These declarations are an integral part of the mandatory requirements.
B) If the Bidder holds a corporate trustee licence, the Bidder must complete the declarations required for the Request for Standing Offer found in Appendices “C” and “D”. These declarations are an integral part of the mandatory requirements.
4.3 Experience
A) If the Bidder holds an individual trustee licence, the Bidder must demonstrate that they have a minimum of three years’ experience administering estates as a licensed trustee in the last five years, prior to the closing of this Request for Standing Offer.
B) If the Bidder holds a corporate trustee licence, the Bidder must demonstrate that all proposed trustees have a minimum of three years’ experience each administering estates as a licensed trustee in the last five years, prior to the closing of this Request for Standing Offer.
4.4 Financial proposal separate
The financial proposal must be submitted as a separate document to the technical proposal (NO INFORMATION FROM THE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL MAY APPEAR IN THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL).
5.0 WEBINARS FOR BIDDERS
Bidders will have the opportunity to participate in webinar sessions to be held in both official languages, each with the same content, on April 16, 2014 with the French session being held from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm followed by an English session from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. The purpose of these sessions is to provide Bidders with the opportunity to obtain information regarding the Request for Standing Offer (RFSO) document. Bidders are to email to the Contracting Authority a list of questions that they wish to ask at the webinars no later than ten (10) working days in advance. Bidders will also have the opportunity to ask questions via email during the webinars.
To register, please visit the links provided in the Request for Standing Offer document.
Non-attendance at the webinars will not preclude a Bidder from bidding on this requirement.
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