Michael Hickman

Principal

  • Asia Pacific
  • Business Continuity Management
  • Digital Risks

Michael Hickman is a Principal in Control Risks’ Crisis and Security Consulting practices for the Greater China and North Asia region. He is responsible for projects involving complex problem solving, risk management, compliance and ethics, and training. A member of the bar in New York, and fluent in Mandarin, Michael has been working in China and throughout Asia since the 1980s.

His international law practice has covered compliance, including anti-bribery and anti-corruption matters and regulatory investigations, complex cross-border M&A transactions, private equity investments, foreign direct investment and international capital markets transactions, all involving full use of bilingual and bicultural skills.

Recent tasks that Michael has worked on include:

  • Advising several leading multinationals in connection with identifying gaps in supply chain integrity and building resilience.
  • Resolving ethical and compliance crises, including crises relating to conflicts of interest, corruption, regulatory violations, workplace safety, allegations of workplace harassment and racial discrimination.
  • Designing and implementing restructurings of mainland China-based operations, including the closure of factories and offices in numerous locations.
  • Creating bespoke programs to address root causes in the case of recurring conflicts of interest and other compliance failures.
  • Advising on crises precipitated by social media attacks on consumer products, including the use of data analytics and other investigative tools to identify likely causes.
  • Numerous assessments of the maturity of compliance programs at companies across a wide range of industries, including consulting services, financial services, healthcare, hi-tech and manufacturing.
  • Advising leading multinationals regarding risks associated with market entry and other expansion plans, and creating mitigation measures to address material risks.
  • Responding to, and developing policies and procedures for, unannounced regulatory investigations in mainland China, including anti-monopoly investigations and law enforcement matters.
  • Assisting with FCPA and OFAC compliance investigations, the development of specific policies relevant to mainland China-based operations and the creation of enhanced bilingual and bicultural training programs across a wide range of compliance and human resources matters.
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    Before joining Control Risks, Michael worked with international law firms including Cleary Gottlieb, Simmons & Simmons, Fried Frank and Haiwen, a leading mainland China-based corporate law firm. Michael has authored numerous articles on mergers and acquisitions and securities regulations in mainland China appearing in the International Financial Law Review, Asia Law & Practice, China Law & Practice and others. He was co-author of the China Chapter, The Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Review (ed. Mark Mendelsohn), Law Business Research, 2013, and co-author of the China Chapter, Corporate Governance, Global Legal Group (London), 2014 and 2015.

    Michael received his Juris Doctor degree in 1985 from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and literature in 1978, also from the University of Washington.

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