British American Tobacco Bangladesh - Sudesh Peter

Mr. Sudesh Peter has assumed the position of Head of Legal at BAT Bangladesh in 2023. He started his journey with BAT in 2011 at Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC as the Corporate and Commercial Counsel and held a range of senior positions for a 12-year period before joining BAT Bangladesh. In 2014, he earned his Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Business with Information Technology and Intellectual Property from Cardiff Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.

As an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Mr. Peter commenced his legal career in the Law Chambers of Mr. K. Kanag-Isvaran, President’s Counsel and later became an in-house Counsel at F. J. & G. de Saram, Attorneys-at-Law, a leading commercial law firm in Sri Lanka. He oversaw contentious litigation and arbitration during his time there, specializing in business, commercial, banking, intellectual property and labour law. Notably, he represented Citibank in the Singapore Oil Hedging Arbitration with the Sri Lankan Government.

Mr. Peter joined Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC, Colombo, Sri Lanka, (CTC) as Corporate and Commercial Counsel in 2011. On account of his marked performance, within a span of a year, he was designated as Litigation Counsel in 2012, in which role he was successful in challenging the excessive graphic health warning regulations and reducing the size of the health warning on cigarette packs for the first time in the world.

In 2015, he was promoted as Regulatory Affairs Counsel in which role he managed External Relations, Regulatory and Fiscal Affairs. in 2017, he was recognized with the coveted Chairman’s Award for outstanding delivery in pricing and excise engagement.

In 2019, Mr. Peter was elevated to Director Legal & External Affairs and Company Secretary of CTC. As a member of CTC’s Leadership Team, he played an integral part in developing and advancing the organisation's strategic leadership agenda as well as extending people leadership to develop and transform key talent in the organization.