Category: Art Dealers

What the UK’s updated anti-money laundering rules mean for the art market

For those in the art market currently spending August wondering how best to navigate the opaque waters of UK anti-money laundering (‘AML’) legislation, this year the beach reading is slightly cheerier. Arguably, the scope of those participants in the art market who are regulated for AML is not as wide as once thought, and the statutory obligations to conduct Customer Due Diligence (‘CDD’) are potentially not as onerous as anticipated. A year ago, my article on anti-money laundering measures in the art market focused on the recent risk assessment published by the government. It then seemed too soon to see…

UK’s revenue and customs agency begins handing out fines to art market players

HMRC, the UK’s revenue and customs agency, has started to hand out fines to art market participants (those handling transactions of €10,000 or above) who failed to register under the new anti-money laundering legislations, by the June 2021 deadline. The list of companies and individuals receiving fines will not be publicly available (via the government’s website) until later this year, but one such penalty notice seen by The Art Newspaper makes it clear that “trading whilst unregistered” was now being pursued as a breach of the regulations. In addition to carrying out increased due diligence, art market participants have been…