The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has kicked off a review of its EMEA legal panel, with the tender process for places on the new roster opening last month.

Allen & Overy (A&O), Ashurst, Eversheds, Baker & McKenzie, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), Clifford Chance (CC), CMS Cameron McKenna, Linklaters, SJ Berwin, Travers Smith and White & Case are all understood to be among the firms pitching for a place on the panel, which covers 24 countries.

All the firms on the existing EMEA line-up have been invited to tender for the panel, which covers a mix of own-account and customer transactional work in each country.

The current EMEA panel, due to expire at the end of June, was appointed in July 2010. The new appointments will run for a further three years from 1 July.

One banking partner pitching for the panel told Legal Week: "Firms on the EMEA panel aren't necessarily on the global and UK panels which were drawn up last year, given each firm's strengths in different regions internationally. Because RBS is dividing work by region like this, firms on the global panel wouldn't automatically be given work in any location. It's much more specific."

RBS declined to comment on the size of the panel or any of the firms on the current line-up. It is understood that the bank also operates separate regional legal panels covering geographies including Asia-Pacific and the US.

The latest review comes after a host of firms including A&O, BLP and SJ Berwin were appointed to RBS's group and UK panels last year, following a process that saw it cut back its adviser roster by 40%.

Other firms appointed to the global panel included CC, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Herbert Smith Freehills, Simmons & Simmons, Ashurst, Eversheds, Travers Smith, Watson Farley & Williams, Squire Sanders and Stephenson Harwood.

The global panel was slimmed down from roughly 100 firms to a new line-up of around 60, with the new appointments running for three years from 1 January 2013. 

The number of sub-panels – which cover own-account work, customer-driven work and commoditised work – was adjusted from 13 to five, with a new alternative provider sub-panel brought in, comprising a mix of firms with volume expertise and legal process outsourcing providers. 

RBS emphasised the importance of legal process outsourcing in the review, with law firms seeking positions on the panel required to demonstrate they had sufficient capabilities in this area.