Clifford Chance (CC) has teamed up with media company Thomson Reuters to help banks deal with upcoming regulatory requirements affecting the derivatives markets.

The partnership comes ahead of new rules in the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market in the European Union (EU), which will require banks to hold extra collateral or margin to cover the risk associated with uncleared derivatives transactions.

The changes mean banks and asset managers will have to adjust the terms of their relationships with a range of counterparties. As a result, they need to amend the terms of existing contracts and put in place new contracts.

The tie-up will mean CC's clients will be able to benefit from Thomson Reuters' automation software Contract Express, which is built for a range of purposes including OTC documentation, as well as the provider's low cost centres around the world. CC will provide legal advice to support its clients on top of this.

The partnership is non-exclusive and the pair will not share fees.

CC banking partner Paget Dare Bryan, one of the lead partners on the project in London, said the offering is more flexible than others.

He explained: "Clients didn't all want a one-sized package; they wanted to be able to disentangle what they wanted from it, from templates to teams of people – they might be able to run some aspects of it themselves. They are going to use us and Thomson Reuters in a way that fits in with their pricing model."

Dare Bryan added that the firm opted not to use its legal services support centre in India, due to the high volume of banking clients that will need advice. "Thomson Reuters is better set up at managing the high number of clients that have a need for this service, as they can support them from their multiple resource centres."

Chief operating officer of Thomson Reuters Legal Managed Services, Gregory McPolin, said: "It's not an exclusive deal but we haven't partnered with other law firms. Obviously, some clients have legal counsel in place and we'll work with them and their counsel."

He added that there is "a plethora of other regulatory obligations" that may require the company to bring in external legal counsel going forward. "Clifford Chance is on the top of our list for these."

Other CC partners involved in the project in London include banking partners Deborah Zandstra, Jeremy Walter, Habib Motani and Anne Drakeford.

The firm has also set up teams in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and New York for the project. Lead New York partner David Felsenthal said: "This is particularly relevant for the complicated, multi-jurisdictional regulatory and documentation remediation challenges now facing the financial services sector."

The move comes after Allen & Overy struck a deal with Deloitte in June to create a new tech-driven system to help banks deal with the upcoming regulations.

The regulatory rules were originally due to come into force in Europe this month, in line with regulators around the world, but earlier this month the implementation was delayed until March 2017.

The EU has joined Japan and Singapore, among others, in delaying implementation.

Europe and the US are the largest jurisdictions for trading in the OTC derivatives market, estimated at nearly $500trn (£353trn). The market is dominated by major banks that frequently trade with each other to hedge risks.