Category Archives: Anti-Money Laundering Act

Philbrick sentenced to seven year jail term – a rogue bad apple or a pawn in an industry rotten to its core?

Posted on: June 1, 2022 by Emily Gould

Art dealer turned con-artist Inigo Philbrick was sentenced last week by a US District Court to seven years behind bars. Described as “a serial swindler who took advantage of the lack of transparency in the art market” Philbrick defrauded numerous art traders, lenders and investors out of a reported US $86 million in a series […]

US Treasury Study on Money Laundering Risks in Art Trade

Posted on: April 21, 2022 by Alyssa Weitkamp

On February 4, 2022, the United States Treasury Department released its Study on the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade in Works of Art. In this Study, the Treasury Department goes through the basics of money laundering in the art world, the particular risks the art world presents for money laundering, […]

Can an NFT be art? And why it matters…

Posted on: January 26, 2022 by Emily Gould

Term has started again this week for students of the Art Business and Law LLM provided by IAL in conjunction with Queen Mary, University of London. This semester, students will embark on three diverse new topics: Art and Intellectual Property, covering the intangible aspects of art; Art and Money, exploring the financial parameters of the […]

New guidance from UK Government on money laundering risks for the art trade

Posted on: July 20, 2021 by Emily Gould and Alyssa Weitkamp

On 28th June, the UK Government published further guidance on the application of anti-money laundering (AML) rules to the UK art trade. As many readers will be aware, since January 2020, anti-money laundering regulations have applied to art market participants, or AMPs (traders or intermediaries involved in the sale or purchase of works of art […]

U.S. financial crime regulations now reach antiquities trade and beyond

Posted on: February 1, 2021 by Stephanie Drawdy

A new year has swept in, bringing with it an expansion of U.S. federal anti-corruption / anti-money laundering laws. On 1 January 2021, America’s annual defense budget known as H.R. 6395, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), became law. The wide-reaching and significant reforms included in the NDAA range from corporate […]

UK Guidance on Anti-Money Laundering released for the art market

Posted on: March 10, 2020 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

The highly anticipated guidance on implementing and complying with the new anti-money laundering rules for the art trade was finally released a few weeks ago. The lengthy document, which totals over 100 pages, was in fact prepared by the British Art Market Federation (BAMF), and has received formal approval by the HMRC. As such, it […]

Combatting Money Laundering in the Art Trade: Changes for Europe and the UK

Posted on: January 10, 2020 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

Important changes are imminent for the art market as the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive enters into force in the UK this Friday, the 10th of January 2020. The directive has been hurriedly transposed into UK law through the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019, which were laid before Parliament on the 20th […]

‘Bad things come in threes’ in the world of art crime…

Posted on: November 26, 2019 by Emily Gould

It has been a tumultuous fortnight in Europe in the world of art crime. First, we heard about the audacious attempt to steal two Rembrandts from London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery – thankfully unsuccessful with the perpetrators being apprehended and the paintings recovered within the grounds of the gallery. Then, yesterday, news broke of a heist […]

New Money Laundering Directive – plans for the UK

Posted on: June 17, 2019 by Emily Gould

Readers may recall our post a few months ago focused on the problem of money laundering in the art trade, and in particular, the adoption by the European Parliament of the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5MLD), to be implemented by Member States by 10th January 2020. In anticipation of the implementation in the UK, the Government, […]

The MET in the spotlight again: Due diligence dissected

Posted on: March 20, 2019 by Emily Gould

We reported late last year how busy the New York authorities have been in recent times in seizing and returning looted artefacts. The pattern has continued into the new year, with the widely reported return to the Egyptian Government of a first-century BC gilded coffin, acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the centre […]