Banking giant HSBC is gearing up to gain unprecedented access to the know-how of 34 of its panel law firms.

The FTSE 100 bank is preparing a pilot scheme for the end of the year that will give it access to panel firms' know-how and precedents by using a bespoke search engine designed by the bank.

Five panel firms, including Norton Rose and Allen & Overy (A&O), are involved in the pilot scheme, which the bank then plans to roll out for 34 panel firms worldwide if it is successful.

HSBC knowledge management project manager Matthew Whalley and head of legal Richard Hennity are leading the initiative, which will see firms submit infor-mation such as precedents and know-how in a standardised format.

Whalley told Legal Week: "Knowledge management is on our relationship agenda and we consider this to be part of the added value we get from our panel firms. We will expect it from those firms that are capable of doing it."

HSBC's move makes it the latest of a growing band of major clients pressing for extensive access to their panel firms' knowledge management.

In June, a group of major companies, including Cisco and Chevron Phillips, combined to develop a networking website dubbed 'Legal OnRamp' that would give them free access to data held by more than 60 law firms worldwide.

A&O global head of know-how David Jabbari said that while other banks had undertaken similar projects, HSBC's initiative was the most far-reaching he had seen.

He commented: "Legal OnRamp is about clients collaborating with each other on know-how and it could become a platform for procuring legal services – HSBC's project is an example of a client developing a sophisticated system in its own right."