UK insurer RSA has extended existing panel terms for firms on its global legal roster, with a review expected to kick off in 2015.

The FTSE 100 company appointed Linklaters and Norton Rose to the line-up for the first time in spring 2011 alongside existing panel advisers Allen & Overy (A&O), Slaughter and May and Ashurst. The firms were initially selected to advise on large corporate and commercial matters for a three-year term.

It is understood that Ashurst has been mandated significantly less than the four other firms, raising the question of whether it could miss out on a reappointment in the next round. However, it is thought that the firm would be keen to re-apply for a spot on the roster.

RSA head of group legal Charlotte Heiss, who will oversee the process, said: "It has been a busy spell for us recently after a few quieter years for big-ticket corporate work, so it has not been the right time for a review.

"I have not yet decided whether it [the review] will involve a pitching process or whether the panel will change its shape; it is on my to-do list for 2015."

Legacy firm Ashurst Morris Crisp was historically viewed as RSA's (known as Royal & Sun Alliance until it rebranded in 2008) primary corporate adviser until the early 2000s, when A&O started to act for the insurer on more of its top transactional work.

However both firms were trumped in 2005 by Slaughters, when it was invited to work for RSA and became widely regarded as its lead corporate counsel in the following year.

RSA has a separate UK panel to handle specialist insurance work. Its three spots are occupied by Pinsent Masons, RPC and Hogan Lovells, with the latter replacing Clyde & Co as a panel adviser in recent years.

An insurance partner at a magic circle firm observed: "In general we are seeing more and more insurers deferring panel reviews as much as possible, as processes take months of effort."

RSA is gearing up to sell several overseas businesses in the near future. In August it outlined plans to sell off its Hong Kong and Singapore insurance operations to Allied World Assurance Company in a £130m agreement. In recent months the insurer also announced disposals in the Baltics, Poland, Canada and China.

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