Statement of Work - Credit Ratings and Research

NONPUBLIC//FDIC BUSINESS

Statement of Work
Credit Ratings, Research, and Data Feed Subscriptions
1.0.

GENERAL

1.1.

Background.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) maintains stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system by (1) insuring deposits, (2) examining and supervising financial institutions, and (3) managing resolutions and receiverships.

1.2.

Scope of Work.
The FDIC Library is currently seeking to procure licenses for credit ratings research databases from nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (“NRSROs”) to provide credit opinions, research and ratings on bank and financial holding companies, fixed-income securities, other credit obligations, and issuers of securities across a broad range of asset classes. The content being licensed also includes published ratings, research, and opinions on a broad range of credit obligations including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities, and commercial paper programs issued in domestic and international markets. Additionally, the content being licensed provides outlook and points of view from the top industry analysts on the economy and the banking sector. The licensed content is critical for ongoing market monitoring and the FDIC's role as a banking regulator. This content will also be used in determining the overall risk profile of companies and industries and often serve as a starting point for more substantial research. For example, if the FDIC suspects a potential threat to the Deposit Insurance Fund in the form of a risk to banks, these ratings, research, and opinions are used to help find the topics and keywords that spur further in-depth research. If the FDIC's research yields a conclusion, these sources are cited as independent, third-party sources used in reaching a conclusion. These resources are used extensively by CISR, DIR, DRR, RMS, as well as the Library in direct support of the FDIC's mission.
The FDIC Library is also seeking data feeds from nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (“NRSROs”) to provide tabular data about bank and financial holding companies, fixed-income securities, other credit obligations, and issuers of securities as well as a broad range of credit obligations across multiple asset classes. Since each firm has their own proprietary ratings algorithms, there is no overlap in meeting this requirement and multiple sources are needed. Having multiple data feeds gives the FDIC a more complete