The Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Committee of the International Bar Association (of which I am a member) will be sponsoring an event March 26-27, 2015 at Sotheby’s in London. The IBA Individual Tax and Private Client Committee is also a co-sponsor, in connection with the IBA European Regional Forum. Sotheby’s is located at 34-35 New Bond Street in London.
The program is now available for registration here. The schedule and speakers are below, but this is clearly an event not to be missed. Regrettably it overlaps with the annual Legal Issues in Museum Administration Conference in Washington, DC (more on that soon), so if anyone has figured out how to be in two places at the same time, suggestions are welcome.
THURSDAY MARCH 26, 2015
Keynote address
Collecting, investing or speculating?
Adrian George, Deputy Director, UK Government Art Collection London
Keynote address
Old and new players of today’s art markets
Mark Cornell, Managing Partner Europe, Sotheby’s, London
Art market players and their interests
This session will focus on the various players in the art market, their respective interests and how they shape today’s art market.
Moderator
Karen Sanig, Head of Art Law, Mishcon de Reya, London
Panelists
George Bailey, Chairman, Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions, London
Fabrizio Moretti, TEFAF Maastricht, Maastricht
Helly Nahmad, Owner, Helly Nahmed Gallery, London
Andrew Renton, Professor of Curating, Goldsmiths London University and Director, Marlborough Contemporary, London
Art as an alternative investment class for institutional investors – art funds and other forms of art investment and certain related legal issues
This session will focus on duties of care imposed on institutional investors in art as an alternative investment class, and regulatory compliance. It will also address risks related to art investments, opportunities of investment through art funds, financing art creation, providing guarantees for auction sales, lending against art, other art investment formats, and relating legal issues.
Introduction
Philip Hoffman, Chief Executive, The Fine Art Fund Group, London
Moderator
Massimo Sterpi, Studio Legale Jacobacci & Associati, Rome; ICOM Liaison Officer, IBA Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law Committee
Panelists
Stephen D Brodie, Herrick, New York
Luke Dugdale, Partner, Cadell & Co, London
Philip Hoffman, Chief Executive, The Fine Art Fund Group, London
Daniel Tunkel, Howard Kennedy, London
Diana Wierbicki, Head of Art Law, Withers, New York
Some selected legal issues when buying and holding art; ancillary cost of collecting
This session will focus on the sometimes underestimated ancillary costs and risks of collecting art. These include provenance, restitution risks, art theft, insurance, transport and restoration. Attempts to regulate the art market, sometimes described as the largest legal unregulated market, will also be addressed.
Keynote Speaker
Viola Reikhel-Bolot, Co-Founder, 1858 Ltd Art Advisory, London
Moderator
Adrian Parkhouse, Farrer & Co, London
Panelists
Dick Ellis, Ex Head of Art Squad, Scotland Yard, London
Melanie Gerlis, Art Market Editor, The Art Newspaper, London
Viola Reikhel-Bolot, Co-Founder, 1858 Ltd Art Advisory, London
Lucian Simmons, Senior Vice-President, Provenance and Restitution, Sotheby’s, London
Steven Thomas, Adjunct Professor, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles
The public collections: their changing role in a changing market
This session will focus on the changing role of public collections in times of budget constraints of public institutions; the blurring of public and private collections; interest of art market players in public collections; temporary and permanent loans; deaccessioning of public collections and evident public interest in the context of bankrupt public entities.
Keynote speaker
Jasper Sharp, Adjunct Curator, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Moderator
Jasper Sharp, Adjunct Curator, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Panelists
Johann Kräftner, Director, LIECHTENSTEIN.The Princely Collections, Vaduz/Vienna
Rina Pantalony, Director of Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia University, New York
Alfredo Perez Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Houston Francesca von Habsburg Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna (invited)
Plenary session and conclusion of the day
Conference dinner
FRIDAY MARCH 27, 2015
Advisors and their role in the art market
This section will focus on art, legal, tax and other advisors around the art markets and how their influence shapes art and art markets; increased transparency of markets, public databases and their impact on the art markets shall be reviewed.
Keynote speaker
Mary Romano, Bloomberg, New York (invited)
Moderator
Mark Stephens, CBE Howard Kennedy, London; Chair, IBA Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law Committee
Panelists
David Arendt, Managing Director, Le Freeport, Luxembourg
Jean-Francois, Canat UGGC Avocats, Paris
Sherri North Cohen, Chief Underwriting Counsel, ARIS Title
Insurance Corporation, New York
Mary Romano
Elizabeth von Habsburg, Winston Art Group, New York
How and where to structure an art collection?
How best to pass a collection down through the generations? This session will focus on the best entities and jurisdictions in which to hold an art collection for successive generations. This will include a review of the key taxes, including capital gains and inheritance tax and the opportunities to be exempt from tax or to pay tax in kind.
Keynote speaker
Guy Simonius, Managing Director Wealth and Tax Planning Advisory, International Julius Baer, Zurich
Moderator
Daniel Simon, Collyer Bristow, London; Vice-Chair, IBA Individual Tax and Private Client Committee
Panelists
Sandrine Giroud, Lalive, Geneva; Publications Officer, IBA Litigation Committee
Wendy Philips, Senior Director, Head of Tax and Heritage, Sotheby’s, London
Randall Willette, Founder and Managing Director, Fine Art Wealth Management, London
Summary and conclusion by Conference Co-Chairs
Raul-Angelo Papotti
Peter Polak
