Dr. Kazi Anowarul Hoque is an accomplished career civil servant, having served as a former Additional Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh. He has extensive national and international experience in public policy formulation, implementation, and coordination. Since his retirement, Dr. Hoque has continued to provide advisory services on formulating priority knowledge products (KP) under various projects, including the My Village-My-Town Project, LGD, HCDP, European Union, and Developing South Asian Livable Cities facility program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). In recognition of his vast experience working with development partners and engaging with the public sector, Dr. Hoque has been appointed as Director of the PLFSL by the Honorable High Court Division. Dr. Hoque is also widely recognized as a hardworking national trainer and academic consultant. He is also a visiting resource person on economic diplomacy and South-South cooperation at various national and international universities. He has taught different foundational training courses for civil servants on project management and organizational development. As part of his commitment to national-level networking and communication Dr. Hoque efficiently coordinated seminars, workshops, dialogue and other events on a range of issues, including LDC graduation, COP review, Voluntarism, promoting SDGs, local government initiatives, and Rural Development. Dr. Hoque holds a B.Sc. Ag. (Hons) and M.Sc. Degree from Bangladesh Agricultural University, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Extension Education from the same University in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, USA. Additionally, he has attended various professional training courses both in-country and abroad.

Barrister Reshad Imam is court-appointed Director of PLFSL. Former Independent Director of Phoenix Finance & Investments Limited, a leading financial institution in Bangladesh, in light of his expertise in the financial sector and corporate ethics. Director of Finance, Academy of Law and Policy (ALAP). Reshad is a Partner at Akhtar Imam & Associates, one of the most respected law firms in Bangladesh, ranked in renowned legal directories like Chambers and Partners and Legal 500. He is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Upon completing his LLM from the University of Cambridge, he worked under the renowned politician and counsel, Dr. Abhishek Singhvi in Delhi, India before returning to Bangladesh. He also completed LLB, University of Buckingham, UK and Barrister-at-Law, Hon’ble Society of Lincoln’s Inn, UK. He has permission to practice in the Appellate Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh. His experience in Bangladesh has been acquired over 13 years. He specialises in Company and Commercial Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Banking, Finance and Securities Law and Labour and Employment Law. He regularly challenges decisions of government authorities through High Court proceedings (judicial review), appears on behalf of national and multinational companies in proceedings before the Company Bench, appears as counsel in domestic and international commercial arbitrations and provides corporate advisory services to private and public sector clients across diverse industries. He has built up a reputation as a dynamic litigator who always walks the extra mile for his clients. He has advised clients like British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB), Japan Tobacco International (JTI), Radiant Pharmaceuticals Ltd., GBB Power Limited, Millennium Group, Aman Group, Brittania Group, Pubali Bank Ltd., Delta Life Insurance Ltd, Padma Bank Ltd., Premier Bank Ltd., Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd, VISA Inc., Facebook Inc., Marico Bangladesh, SSL Wireless, SSL Commerz and a host of other foreign and local companies over the years. Reshad is one of the Founder Trustees and Director of Finance of the Academy of Law and Policy (ALAP), a registered trust set up with the lofty goals of, among others, dissemination of legal knowledge, research on and advocacy for much-needed law and policy reform and public interest litigation on pressing issues of national importance. He is also an independent director of Phoenix Finance & Investments Limited (PFIL), a leading financial institution in Bangladesh.

He advised different entities of Visa around the world (Bombay, Middle East, Australia, Singapore, etc.) on various corporate, commercial and financial matters including the following:

• Cross-border money transfer into Bangladesh; impact, if any of the anti-money laundering rating of the sending country and sanctions, political or otherwise, against UAE or Saudi Arabia.
• Electronic signatures and contract formalities in Bangladesh.
• Anti-corruption& bribery laws of Bangladesh. And Represented in Court and advised SSL Wireless, the first and the largest Merchant Solution Provider (MSP) in the country having 3500+ top e-commerce merchants under coverage through its secure online Payment Gateway platform SSLCOMMERZ, on various legal issues arising from the ongoing e-commerce scandal in Bangladesh.

Mr M. Shafiqur Rahman obtained his undergraduate and graduate degrees in law from the University of Dhaka in 1995 and 1997 respectively. Having done his LL.B. (Hons.) from the University of London in 2001 and Bar Vocational Course from University of Northumbria in 2002, he was called to the Bar from Lincoln’s Inn in 2002. Back to Bangladesh, he joined the Chambers of Dr M. Zahir, a renowned corporate and constitutional lawyer (now deceased), and has been practising in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh since. His main areas of practice are: Admiralty, Corporate, Commercial, Securities, Banking, Insurance, Judicial Review (Writ) and International Arbitration. He advises and represents several Protection and Indemnity (P & I) Clubs, including Standard Club Europe, Standard Club Asia, Swedish Club Hong Kong and Japan P & I Club. He is the lawyer on retainer for Dhaka Stock Exchange, advising on capital market and securities law. He is also the lawyer on retainer for several other entities, including Popular Life Insurance Company (advising on insurance law and company affairs) and Epic Group (advising on commercial law and international trade). He acted as the Court-appointed Chairman of several companies for the purpose of holding annual general meetings. He is currently contributing to four companies as a Court-appointed independent director. He is frequently appointed “amicus curiae” by the Company Bench of the High Court Division in critical cases to assist the court in arriving at correct judicial decisions. He regularly contributes legal articles in the law journal “Bangladesh Legal Times”.