Utkarsh Bhatnagar

Utkarsh is a Partner at our Mumbai office in the FinTech, Financial Services and Technology practice group.

He advises Indian and multinational companies across the technology, R&D, emerging technology, banking, payments, FinTech, and information technology sectors on transactional, enforcement, and regulatory matters.

Utkarsh has had the privilege of advising on some of the most strategic and first-of-their-kind matters in the fintech and financial services space. He has led complex regulatory advisory and structuring mandates for leading global and Indian players, helping them navigate licensing frameworks and enabling market entry in a highly regulated environment. He has also advised on several large NBFC acquisitions and reorganizations, balancing commercial objectives with regulatory compliance to help these businesses scale effectively.

Utkarsh has been closely involved in supporting clients through policy discussions and interactions with regulators on emerging areas such as digital lending and new-age payment models. This includes assisting clients in securing first-of-its-kind approvals in newly created categories, which has allowed them to stay ahead of the curve in a fast-evolving market.

Relevant Experience:

Key M&A/ Corporate Transactions:

Easebuzz, a payments aggregator platform, on securing in Series A funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Bain Capital on the acquisition of Manappuram Finance (India’s 2nd largest gold loan financier).
HCL group founder, Mr. Shiv Nadar, on transferring his entire stake in Vama Sundari and HCL Corp to his daughter by way of a gift deed.
Tata Communications on the sale of its white-label ATM operator subsidiary (TCPSL) to TSI (a majority-owned subsidiary of Australian digital payments and financial services provider Findi).
Amazon’s acquisition of ‘Buy-Now Pay Later’ company Axio.
Adani Group on the acquisition of Adani Capital and Adani Housing by Bain Capital.

Key Payments, FinTech and Data Advisory:

Licensing for Banks/Non-banks: Advising various Indian conglomerates and overseas banking entities on their banking and non-banking licenses in India.
Licensing for Payment Aggregator (‘PA’) and Other Payment System Operators (‘PSO’): Advised over 20 PAs representing one of the highest numbers handled by any law firm in India. I also regularly advise various payment players regarding their PSO licenses.
Corporate Governance & Compliance: Advising senior management on corporate governance matters and regulatory obligations, supporting strategic decision-making.
Contract Negotiations and Transaction Support: Advise clients on various commercial contracts, including outsourcing arrangements, IT contracts, vendor contracts, etc.
Crypto/Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (‘VDASPs’) Advisory: Advising VDASPs on their India entity, registration with FIU-Ind, business structuring, etc.
Data and Privacy Advisory: Regularly advising technology, Fintech, and non-Fintech players on aspects of data (personal, sensitive personal, and payments), data sharing, retention, and purging of personal data pursuant to the new Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and other sectoral regulations.