Where the purchase is being made for the Pension Fund, The Financial Regulation of the Pension Fund shall apply.

For regular purchases, Article 16 of The Financial Regulations of the Pension Fund shall apply, which means, the CERN Procurement Rules apply.

Where the purchase relates to the selection of external service providers for the implementation of the Fund's asset management process, referred to in Article I 2.10 of the Pension Fund Rules, appropriate procedures, which derogate from the CERN Procurement Rules, shall apply.

These procedures are defined by the Pension Fund Governing Board as first detailed in CERN/PFGB/47.15 and including subsequent updates.

CERN/PFGB/73.5/A provides matrices which define the applicable purchasing procedure and approval requirements as a function of the anticipated contract amount.

As a guidance, a list of existing purchases falling under the services foreseen in Article 15 is available under this link (TBD). This list is signed by the PF CEO and the Head of IPT department. It is updated on an adhoc basis.

In case a purchasing procedure relates to a service not mentioned in the art 15 services list, the declaration of the applicability of Article 15 to a purchasing procedure shall be documented via the use of an internal Memorandum following this template (TBD). The Memorandum, addressed to the Head of IPT department, shall be jointly drafted by the Technical Officer and the Procurement Officer and shall be signed by either the CEO of the Pension Fund or the Group Leader responsible.

The list of Article 15 Approved Services or the signed Memorandum shall be attached to the applicable DR or to the DAI prior to signature by the Procurement Officer

Once it has been established that a purchasing procedure will be carried out under Article 15, CERN’s Procurement Rules will be subject to the following adjustments, justified by the specific needs of the Fund’s operation:

- “Head of IPT department” shall mean “Head of the IPT department together with the Fund’s Chief Executive Officer” (Fund’s CEO);

- “User” of “user Department” shall mean “Pension Fund Management Unit” (PFMU);

- In principle, contracts shall be awarded on the basis of the “best value for money” adjudication principle;

- The Specification Committee referred to in Section 6.4 of the CERN Procurement Rules shall comprise Pension Fund Investment Committee (PFIC) members;

- The provisions of the CERN Procurement Rules relating to country of origin, announcement, return coefficient and alignment shall not be applicable.

Warning: Some specific consequences of these adjustments on the applicable purchasing procedure are:

- Do not send the Selection and Adjudication criteria with the DO or IT;

- Do not apply the alignment rule as foreseen in the CERN Procurement Rules;

- DOs and ITs may also be sent to, and contracts may also be placed with, firms proposing goods and services originating outside the Member States, without the need for approval from the Head of Procurement Service or the head of the IPT department.

The thresholds and applicable purchasing procedure and approval requirements are as detailed in CERN/PFGB/47.15 (page 2). The decision as to whether or not the Fund can place a single-source contract (without competitive tendering) shall be taken by the bodies as detailed in CERN/PFGB/47.15 (page 2).

Before any purchase order or contract is awarded, the Technical Officer shall provide evidence of the related approval to the Purchasing Officer. This shall be attached to either the DAI or EDH contract circulation document and shall include, as the case may be, depending on the estimated amount :

- List of Art 15 approved services or memo from Fund’s CEO or any authorized representative on Art.15 applicability;

- Adjudication Proposal Memo to CEO / PFIC / PFGB ;

- Statement from Fund’s CEO or any authorized representative that PFIC/PFGB have approved the proposed adjudication;

- Corresponding extracts of PFIC / PFGB  if available Minutes.