Fighting money laundering and terrorist financing contributes to global security, integrity of the art market and sustainable growth. Laws to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism are designed to prevent the art market from being misused for these purposes.
New EU-wide legislation - the 5th Anti-money Laundering directive - has come into effect on January 10, 2020 which compels art galleries and dealers to mitigate the risks of money laundering occurring in the course of their business. Following the same procedures used by international banks, Antoine Simon Fine Art Advisory Ltd now has an obligation to carry out ‘Know Your Client’ (KYC) checks on all of our clients, regardless of location or the length of our relationship. Where we are dealing with art advisors acting on behalf of their clients, we are required to run checks on both the advisor and the final client.
The process is straightforward and well known across the banking and corporate sectors, including the auction houses. We will be using a reputable compliance checking company to streamline the process. However, for private individuals, we may need to collect ID documentation, in the form of a passport or photo ID, when you next transact with us. For companies, we may ask for details including evidence of incorporation and documentation including the names of directors and the ultimate beneficial owner(s).
We will require payment of our invoices to be made from a bank account held in the name of the party on the invoice. If the purchase is being paid for by a third party, we will only be able to accept funds following confirmation of the source of the funds in line with these new legal requirements.
ASFAA is taking an informed and measured approach to implementing the new legislation in our business, and all data, personal and corporate, will remain strictly confidential and secure at all times in accordance with our privacy policy. We appreciate your understanding with this change.
ASFAA is supervised by HMRC, UK’s supervisory body for Money Laundering Regulations and by the ICO, UK’s independent authority for data privacy.
Please find more information through the recently published AML Guidelines by the British Art Market Federation (BAMF) and approved by HM Treasury on January 24, 2020.
If you have questions or concerns regarding the regulations, please email info@antoinesimonfineart.com.
Last Updated: 22/05/2020