Linklaters is this week launching its first addition to the Blue Flag line of 'virtual' advice products, which will be aimed at investment fund managers.
The new internet-based service will be known as Blue Flag Funds.
The firm is also currently in the process of building a similar system to deal with shareholding disclosure and a custody module which will apply rules on how custodians operate in different jurisdictions.
Linklaters has developed the Blue Flag Funds system in collaboration with the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the national body representing investment companies in the US.
Paul Harris, head of investment funds at Linklaters, said his firm was frequently instructed to give advice on how to set up investment funds in different countries around the world.
"We were regularly being asked questions like, 'can we take this fund and drop it into France?' It seemed sensible for us to turn this information into part of our commoditised legal service."
According to Harris: "People can subscribe to the service, which will help them tailor their approach to investors in a particular country.
"It will answer questions such as whether the institutions can respond to an unsolicited approach.
"It will not answer all the questions people have, but it will address most of the basics."
Harris said the service had started with 21 jurisdictions, covering Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. He said that in the summer it will expand to China, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Canada, and in the autumn will cover Korea, Japan and Vietnam.
Blue Flag Funds is structured in a similar way to the original product, Blue Flag Regulatory, and will make use of similar technology. "Although it will of course be smaller," Harris added.
The system will be updated every three months by Linklaters and other law firms around the world participating in the scheme, and there will be a hot news page with all the latest developments updated regularly.
The service will cost investment managers £1,400 per country for the first year, dropping to £975 for subsequent years, with discounts offered for those using more than five countries.
It is being offered for free in the US to the 480 fund management groups belonging to the ICI.
A team of six Linklaters lawyers co-ordinated the development of the new product, with assistance from international Linklaters offices and participating foreign law firms.