Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and SJ Berwin are among a host of firms to have been appointed to the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) new group and UK legal panel, following a review which has seen the bank cut back its adviser roster by 40%.

The panel has been cut back from around 100 firms to a new line-up of between 55 and 60 firms, with the appointments running for three years from 1 January 2013.