New rule would demand more info on company ownership

Businesses competing for contracts may have to share more information on company history, including owners and previous owners, as acquisition officials are intent on getting a clearer picture of a bidder’s past, according to a new proposed rule.

Bidders would have to identify immediate owners, subsidiaries and all of its predecessors that have held a federal contract in the previous three years.

Acquisition officials want “to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the performance and integrity of the corporation before awarding a federal contract,” according to the Federal Register notice, which was released Dec. 4.

Further back than three years, acquisition officials believe the information would be less relevant. They also said agencies and companies would not reap the benefits, compared to the work, to set up a system of interrelationships beyond direct owners and subsidiaries.

Information on owners, subsidiaries and predecessors would be in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) and available to the public. Past performance information would not be available though.

“The objective of this rule is to provide acquisition officials using FAPIIS a comprehensive understanding of the performance and integrity of the corporation in carrying out federal contracts,” officials wrote in the notice on the proposed rule.

The new requirement would set in place a provision in the fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.

Officials are accepting comments on their proposal through Feb. 2.