Skip to main content

An anti-bribery compliance director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch has been charged with assaulting a police officer in Hong Kong.

 A video circulating in Hong Kong shows a man, named by local media as 35-year-old American Samuel Bickett, attempt to grab a baton from another man, subsequently identified as a plainclothes police officer.

Local reports said the altercation began after officers attempted to stop a man from exiting the train station without a ticket.

Hong Kong news sites including Apple Daily, HK01 and Ming Pao have reported that Bickett was charged with assault and has been released on bail of HK$10,000 ($1,300). The case will be heard next year on Feb. 4. During that time, Bickett must report to police and notify them 24 hours prior to international travel.

A LinkedIn page for ‘Sam B’, director, APAC anti-bribery & corruption at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, linked to Bickett’s full name and image until recently, but no longer does. According to that page, Bickett has been based in Asia for seven years, originally working as a senior associate in dispute resolution at Freshfields. Prior to this, he was the APAC regional head of anti-bribery and corruption at Deutsche Bank in Singapore. He began his career in Asia as an associate at Ropes & Gray in Hong Kong.

Mark Tsang, a Hong Kong-based spokesperson for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, declined to comment on the story.

Although the arrest did not take place during a demonstration, tensions between police and office workers are at an all-time high in Hong Kong. Last month a Citi banker was detained after a scuffle with police, while lunchtime standoffs between chic office workers and riot police have become common.

Last Sunday’s Human Rights Day march was the largest demonstration since last month’s local elections. While largely peaceful, police said it was marred by a fire set outside the High Court and the Court of Final Appeal.

Related Articles

SURVEY OPEN: ALB SUPER 50 TMT LAWYERS 2025

In this list, ALB will pick the most highly recommended TMT practitioners based permanently in the Asian region. The winners will be published in the March 2025 issue of ALB Asia.

HKIAC opens 2nd mainland rep office in Beijing

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) has officially opened its Beijing Representative Office, becoming the first offshore arbitration institution to establish a presence in the Chinese capital.

Milbank becomes 2nd U.S. law firm to shutter mainland office in a week

U.S. law firm Milbank has confirmed to ALB that it will close its Beijing office, which has been operating for 18 years. This makes it the second top-tier U.S. law firm, after Paul, Weiss, to announce its intention to call time on its mainland operations this week.