Description
The following information is provided as a courtesy to Industry stakeholders who do business with or are interested in doing business with the Federal government. BLUF: In March 2018, the General Services Administration (GSA) implemented a fraud prevention security measure in the System for Award Management (SAM) which required every new contractor registrant to provide a written (hard copy) notarized letter confirming the entity's Administrator is authorized to register the entity in the SAM database, or to make changes to their registration. Effective 29 April 2018, the notarized letter process is now mandatory on all CURRENT SAM registrants who have a requirement to update and/or renew their SAM record. The notarized letter is mandatory and is required before the GSA Federal Service Desk (FSD) will activate the entity's registration. Background: a. The GSA SAM program office is supporting an active investigation by the GSA Inspector General and Department of Defense (DoD) investigative units into alleged, third-party fraudulent activity in SAM. At this time, a limited number of entities registered in SAM are suspected of being impacted by this fraudulent activity. On 22 March 18, GSA required all new SAM registrants to submit an original, signed, and notarized letter identifying the authorized Entity Administrator for the entity before a new entity registration will be activated. Effective 29 April 18, this process was applicable to all existing entities updating a SAM record (one time application unless Entity Administrator changes). The notarized letter requirement is mandatory for all types of registrants, US-based or foreign. Foreign registrants without U.S. electronic funds transfer (EFT) data are also required to provide a notarized letter (on company letterhead) identifying their Entity Administrator(s). b. DoD and GSA recognize that this process is cumbersome. The notarized letter process requires a hard-copy letter to be sent to the SAM Federal Service Desk for review prior to activation of a SAM registration or validation of updated SAM data. The current process can take as long as 5-7 days, not inclusive of the time for foreign mail to be delivered. There is no specified time for these security measures to expire as they are in effect indefinitely until otherwise notified. GSA intends to replace the notarized letter process with more automated controls as soon as practical. c. While there is no contemplation of a class deviation to the FAR 4.1102 requirement for SAM registration in order to mitigate/minimize the time delay necessary for the notarized letter process, DoD and GSA will consider waiver exceptions on a case-by-case basis. The approving authority for any wavers is GSA, not the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The exceptions to SAM registration at FAR 4.1102(a)(1) thru (7) remains in effect. The OSD and GSA realize the length of time needed to transmit, receive, process, and approve the notarized letters presents a significant impact on the ability of the contracting activity to make timely awards, but in order to mitigate the concern of fraud, these steps and the time need for processing is unavoidable. Coordinated pre-planning and communication can help minimize this impact. The notarized letters must be postal service mailed (not emailed or faxed) to the "Federal Service Desk" and must contain the information outlined in the FAQs posted to the SAM website. SAM NOTARIZED LETTER PROCEDURES: 1. DOMESTIC VENDORS: Domestic entities should answer this question: "I'm registering a domestic entity (located in the U.S. or its outlying areas). How do I comply with the requirement to submit a notarized letter formally appointing an Entity Administrator?" Step 1: Determine which template is required. a. I need to formally appoint an Entity Administrator for a single domestic entity. - (Use Template 1 - attached) b. I need to formally appoint an Entity Administrator for multiple domestic entities in my organization. - (Use Template 2 - attached) Step 2: Complete the template and print on your entity's letterhead. If you don't have letterhead, enter your entity's legal business name and physical address at the top of the letter before printing. Step 3: Sign the completed letter in the presence of the notary. a. Make sure the person who signs the letter is someone with signatory authority, i.e. someone who can make commitments on behalf of the entity like the president, CEO, or other authorized representative. b. Confirm your identity in accordance with your state's notary procedures. Step 4: Mail the completed, signed, notarized letter to: FEDERAL SERVICE DESK ATTN: SAM.GOV REGISTRATION PROCESSING 460 INDUSTRIAL BLVD LONDON, KY 40741-7285 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2. INTERNATIONAL VENDORS: Foreign entities should answer this question: "I am registering an international entity (not located in the U.S. or its outlying areas). How do I comply with the requirement to submit a letter formally appointing an Entity Administrator?" STEP 1: Determine which template is required. a. I need to formally appoint an Entity Administrator for a single international entity. We do not use banking information from a U.S. financial institution (see note) in our SAM entity registration (Use Template 3 - attached). b. I need to formally appoint an Entity Administrator for a single international entity. We do use banking information from a U.S. financial institution (see note) in our SAM entity registration (Use Template 1 - attached). (**NOTE: International entities registering in SAM are not required to enter banking information for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) on the Financial Information page of the entity registration. Those fields are optional. An international entity may enter banking information for EFT if they use a U.S. financial institution.) STEP 2: Complete the template and print on your entity's letterhead. If you don't have letterhead, enter your entity's legal business name and physical address at the top of the letter before printing. If using Template, 1 proceed as follows: STEP 3: Sign the completed letter in the presence of the notary. a. Make sure the person who signs the letter is someone with signatory authority, i.e. someone who can make commitments on behalf of the entity like the president, CEO, or other authorized representative. b. Confirm your identity in accordance with your local notary procedures. STEP 4: Scan the completed, signed letter. a. Submit a copy to the Federal Service Desk by creating a service ticket and attaching the scanned letter. b. Your registration can be conditionally activated if you have an approved, scanned copy of the letter on file. STEP 5: Mail the completed, signed, notarized letter to the Federal Service Desk. It must be received at the address below within 45 days of activation or your registration will be expired. FEDERAL SERVICE DESK ATTN: SAM.GOV REGISTRATION PROCESSING 460 INDUSTRIAL BLVD LONDON, KY 40741-7285 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (**NOTE: If using Template 3, proceed as follows:) STEP 3: Sign the completed letter. Make sure the person who signs the letter is someone with signatory authority, i.e. someone who can make commitments on behalf of the entity like the president, CEO, or other authorized representative. STEP 4: Scan the completed, signed letter. a. Submit a copy to the Federal Service Desk by creating a service ticket and attaching the scanned letter. b. Your registration can be conditionally activated if you have an approved, scanned copy of the letter on file. STEP 5: Mail the completed, signed letter to the Federal Service Desk. It must be received at the address below within 45 days of activation or your registration will be expired. FEDERAL SERVICE DESK ATTN: SAM.GOV REGISTRATION PROCESSING 460 INDUSTRIAL BLVD LONDON, KY 40741-7285 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Attachments: 1. SAM Template No. 1 (SAM Entity Administrator Letter - Single Entity) 2. SAM Template No. 2 (SAM Entity Administrator Letter - Multiple Domestic Entities) 3. SAM Template No. 3 (Sam Entity Administrator Letter - International (No Banking Information)) 4. SAM Header (SAM Website Alert Screen Capture) For additional information or assistance, see the SAM.Gov website.