Creditor participation in insolvency proceedings has been widely seen as an essential feature of any well-developed insolvency administration system. This notion has been expressed in different ways in national systems of insolvency law, ranging from principles such as the pari passu rule, to the holding of creditor meetings to decide matters of importance in the insolvency proceedings, to the role of insolvency representatives in such proceedings. Over the last decade we have seen the emergence of a number of multilateral efforts to more clearly articulate insolvency norms or “best practice” guidelines. These have included such outcomes as the Asian Development Bank’s 2000 Good Practice Standards, the World Bank and IMF’s 2005 draft Principles for Effective Insolvency and Creditor Rights Systems, and the monumental 2004 UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Insolvency Law (the UNCITRAL Guide). The emergence of these multilateral statements witnesses the regional and global significance of insolvency laws and the role that they play in providing a foundation for a market economy. This paper will examine the creditor participation standards evident in this body of international best practice norms. Ultimately, it is argued that creditor participation in insolvency is an essential element in a rule of law based market economy.