Mayer Brown is looking to introduce new financial hedging products that would allow the firm to protect its billings from fluctuating currency values.

The US law firm, which last year hired a global treasury manager to centralise its approach, is considering whether to introduce new bank products that would allow it to exchange dollars or euros into sterling at a pre-determined fixed rate for a number of years.

The firm is looking at the issue in response to increasing demands from clients to bill in their local currency. Mayer Brown pays its UK partners in sterling rather than dollars, but it wants to introduce a product that will protect all of the firm's billings and its global profit pool against the impact of currency fluctuations even though partners are remunerated in their home currency.

Mayer Brown London executive partner Jeremy Clay commented: "We serve both local and international clients in various currencies.

"This creates exchange exposures and flows between currencies within our firm. We have now recruited a treasury manager for the global business, based here in London. He is developing our ability to manage these exposures more actively."