Provision of Worldwide Banking/Payment Services for United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF)

The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (hereinafter referred to as UNJSPF or the Pension Fund) is a fund established by the General Assembly of the United Nations to provide retirement, death, disability and related benefits for the staff of the United Nations and other organizations and agencies admitted to membership in the Pension Fund. The Pension Fund is seeking one or more banks that will provide worldwide banking payments services. The Investments of the Fund are managed by a separate unit of the UNJSPF, the Investment Management Service (IMS). The IMS area maintains its own bank accounts and has separate custodial functions. The IMS activities are not part of this RFP. You may wish to refer to www.unjspf.org for additional information on the Pension Fund, including its ‘Annual Report 2009’ and, in particular, its ‘Regulations, Rules and Pension Adjustment System’. As at 31 December 2008, the Pension Fund counted 112,000 active contributors (participants) belonging to the United Nations Common System, other organizations and agencies (which include the main UN Secretariat, UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR as well as various specialized agencies such as WHO in Geneva, IAEA and UNIDO in Vienna, ICAO in Montreal, UNESCO in Paris etc.). The value of payroll benefits in payment for the year ending 31 December 2008 amounted to US$1.5 billion, which was paid in 15 different currencies, while withdrawal and other payments are paid in many different currencies and amounted to the equivalent of US$ 337 million. A total of 591,585 payment transactions were executed in 2008. For beneficiaries in receipt of child or other benefits, the Pension Fund, wherever possible, consolidates such benefits into one payment transaction. Based on current developments, overall payments are estimated to increase by approximately 2 to 3 percent for the year 2009 compared to 2008 figures, although these estimates may vary. The Pension Fund’s monthly payment transactions are directed to accounts held by beneficiaries with more than 2,450 different banks and other financial institutions.