A raft of firms including DLA Piper and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are in line to bag roles on the Bank of Beijing's initial public offering (IPO) – the latest of the Chinese state-owned banks to go public.

DLA Piper and Freshfields are understood to be advising on Hong Kong issues for the issuer and underwriters respectively. The listing is expected to be worth around $1bn (£504m).

New York duo Davis Polk & Wardwell and Shearman & Sterling are also thought to have been given the nod, advising on aspects of US law for the bank and underwriters respectively.

The bank is set to float later in the year but it is still unclear where it will happen. Originally it was thought the bank would opt for dual listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges but has since said it may now go for a China-only float.

It follows the Chinese Government's decision to release a set of guidelines earlier this year encouraging companies to float only on the mainland.

Capital markets lawyers in the region say the guidelines have had an impact on the number of state-owned Chinese companies that have opted to list in Hong Kong, which has been a lucrative area for international firms in the region.

One Hong Kong capital markets partner commented: "It would be wrong to say that the bottom has fallen out of the Hong Kong IPO market, but there have been a lot of floats that have been pulled or stalled.

"It is early days but it may make firms look at their business models out in Hong Kong, if the IPO work really starts to dry up."

Recent big ticket IPOs by Chinese companies in Hong Kong that UK and US firms have cashed in on include the $19bn (£9.6bn) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Herbert Smith advised ICBC while Freshfields acted for the underwriters on Hong Kong law.