Mahesh Uttamchandani is Senior Counsel for Insolvency & Creditors' Rights at the World Bank and head of the World Bank's Global Insolvency & Creditors' Rights Initiative - providing advisory services to governments around the world on the subject of insolvency and creditor rights. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Uttamchandani was Insolvency Counsel to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, England where he led the reform of insolvency systems throughout eastern Europe and central Asia. Mr. Uttamchandani is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on global insolvency systems and, in 2008, was asked by the Senate of Canada to appear as an expert witness in its consideration of insolvency legislation.

Mr. Uttamchandani is a Canadian lawyer who practiced for several years exclusively in the area of insolvency & creditors' rights at a leading Canadian law firm and began his legal career as a law clerk to the Commercial List of Toronto, Canada's largest bankruptcy court.

Mr. Uttamchandani has published and lectured extensively in North America, Europe and Asia and is a board member of the insolvency-related legal journal, International Corporate Rescue, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Law in the St. John's University Law School LL.M in Insolvency.