Director · Legato8
Mirza Unas AliBaig.
Director · VAT, FTA Representations & Cross-Border
Director · VAT, FTA Representations & Cross-Border
FTA Tax Agent (UAE) · Solicitor (SRA, England & Wales) · Advocate, Sindh High Courts
Profile
Director · VAT, FTA Representations & Cross-Border.
Mirza Unas Ali Baig leads VAT advisory and Federal Tax Authority representations at Legato8 from Dubai. He is a registered FTA Tax Agent of the United Arab Emirates, a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales (SRA), and an Advocate of the High Courts of Sindh.
His legal training runs across four jurisdictions: an LL.B. Honours and LL.M. from City Law School (University of London) covering Commercial Law and Fraud and Economic Crime, a vocational year at Lincoln's Inn, an Erasmus exchange at Sciences Po Paris, and the Solicitor Qualifying Examination at the University of Law. He is currently a Distinguished Scholar Fellow at New York University, reading an M.S. in Global Conflict, Security and Cybercrime through the Center for Global Affairs.
His professional development includes targeted training in FATF compliance, anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing (NAB Judicial Academy), white-collar crime investigation and asset tracing (PACA Karachi), GCC VAT compliance (ATT, UK), and emerging AI governance (Saïd Business School, Oxford). The NYU work extends that into the national-security and cybercrime adjacencies that increasingly border tax-compliance practice.
For Legato8 clients, that combination means VAT advisory delivered with a financial-crime lens, FTA representations supported by a barrister-trained understanding of administrative law, and cross-border structuring with documented compliance against the FATF framework.
Expertise
Education
Where the training came from.
M.S., Global Conflict, Security and Cybercrime
Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies
Solicitor Qualifying Examination (SQE)
University of Law, London
Vocational Training
Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, London
LL.M., Bar Professional Training; Commercial Law; Fraud and Economic Crime
City Law School, University of London
Erasmus Exchange — Certificate in Humanities and Social Sciences
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po)
LL.B. Honours with Study Abroad
City Law School, University of London
Experience
Roles that built the file.
Director — VAT Consultant & Advisor
Legato8, Dubai
Leads VAT advisory engagements for UAE businesses, including registration, returns, refunds, and audit defence. Acts as Federal Tax Authority registered tax agent representing clients in FTA reviews and reconsideration applications.
NatSec 2050 Global Fellow
Diversity in National Security Network (DINSN), New York University
Hybrid national security policy fellowship examining global trends and their domestic impact through an intermestic framework. Writing policy press statements on US foreign policy, ongoing research on the NatSec 2050 national survey covering political instability, economic security, and AI/cybersecurity.
Legal Trainee
Office of the Attorney General of Sindh, Karachi
Supported constitutional litigation during COVID-19 emergency-power disputes, including federal-provincial competency questions under Article 245. Drafted written statements for constitutional petitions including the mosque prayers case (CP D-2285/2020) and the KESC privatisation case (CP D-1511/2005).
Bar admissions & memberships
- · Tax Agent, Federal Tax Authority (FTA), United Arab Emirates
- · Solicitor of the Senior Courts, SRA, England & Wales
- · Advocate of the High Courts, Sindh Bar Council, Pakistan
- · Unregistered Barrister, Bar Standards Board (BSB), England & Wales
- · Candidate, New York Bar
- · Life-time Member, Sindh High Court Bar Association
- · Member, Karachi Bar Association
- · Life-time Member, Karachi Tax Bar Association
- · Tax Practitioner, Pakistan Tax Bar Association
- · CMC Friend, Civil Mediation Council, United Kingdom
- · Member, International Mediation and Arbitration Center (IMAC), Pakistan
- · Member, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
- · Member, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Professional training
- · Candidate, CS50 for Lawyers, Harvard University
- · Candidate, AI Programme, Saïd Business School, Oxford University
- · Inter-Regional Training Course on International Obligations (FATF & APG), NAB (2022)
- · Intensive Course on AML Act 2010 and Terrorist Financing, NAB Judicial Academy (2022)
- · 18-Week Professional Training Course on White Collar Crime Investigation and Asset Tracing, PACA Karachi (2021)
- · Advanced Professional Development Program, Karachi Tax Bar Association (2024)
- · GCC VAT Compliance Diploma, Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), UK
- · American Constitutional Foundations, Harvard University
- · Civil & Commercial Mediation Program, Align Mediation, Oxford (2018)
Honours & recognition
- · Distinguished Scholar Fellowship, New York University (2026)
- · Erasmus Grant Scholar, European Commission (2018)
