Consistent with efforts in recent years to apply banking laws to the art market, the prospects of passage of a bill in Congress that would apply those rules to a broad category of advisors and attorneys have recently increased. The “ENABLERS Act,” a gimmick of nomenclature apparent from the moment it was proposed, was briefly attached to the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which in keeping with longstanding tradition easily passed the U.S. House of Representatives on July 14, 2022. This tactic, which was also used to extend the reach of the Bank Secrecy Act to antiquities dealers in 2021, greatly enhances the odds that what seemed initially like an unserious publicity stunt might become law. Readers of the Art Law Report will not be surprised at a critical view here of the effort to place a square peg—the art market—into a round hole—bank oversight. This bill is considerably worse, however. Compounding the confusion is that despite widespread coverage about its attachment to the NDAA, the ENABLERS Act as originally proposed is not in the version of the NDAA that passed the House of Representatives last week (it was added then revised, notwithstanding at least one report to the contrary). What was approved for the moment omits the worst parts of the ENABLERS Act. But the perception that it is a done deal ironically may have the effect of lowering vigilance about its prospects. Even if this bill never becomes law, it has come much closer than it should have.
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Topics:
Congress,
Supreme Court,
House of Representatives,
AML,
Money laundering,
FinCEN,
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network,
Illicit Art and Antiquities Trafficking Protection,
suspicious activity reports,
Bank Secrecy Act,
31 U.S.C. § 5312(a),
National Defense Authorization Act,
Treasury Department,
ENABLERS Act,
NDAA,
art market regulation,
Tom Malinowski,
dealers in antiquities,
JOHN HENRY WIGMORE,
Berd v. Lovelace,
Federal Rules of Evidence,
Panama Papers,
International Consortium Investigative Journalists,
Offshore Leaks database,
English Chancery Court,
Blackburn v. Crawfords Lessee,
Pandora Papers
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today published in the Federal Register notice of proposed regulations related to the implementation of amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regarding the trade in antiquities pursuant to last year’s Anti-Money Laundering Act. After relative silence over the nine months since the AMLA was passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, FinCEN somewhat surprisingly still has not drafted any proposed regulations, but rather seeks additional comment on a series of substantive questions. This effort to gather meaningful data is a positive step, but raises concerns about interested parties’ ability to respond by the 30 day deadline, and whether FinCEN will have time to incorporate those comments into regulations that must be promulgated (after further public notice and comment) by the end of 2021.
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Topics:
Antiquities,
AML,
Money laundering,
FinCEN,
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network,
Bank Secrecy Act,
National Defense Authorization Act,
Treasury Department,
BSA,
Anti-Money Laundering Act,
Byzantium
I was pleased to attend last week in Geneva “Building an Art Market for the Future—Guidelines for Countering Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Threats” hosted by the Fondation pour le Droit d’Art (Art Law Foundation) and the Art Law Centre of the University of Geneva. The conference was the official launch of the Responsible Art Market initiative, and offered valuable, market-focused discussion about the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in the art market. Refreshingly, the day’s panel discussions focused on best practices and goals, rather than the oft-heard lamentations about problems with the art market. The implicit point that came through was a powerful one: as both private sellers and law enforcement speakers explained, art dealers are not engaged in large-scale shadowy financial dealings. But art dealers and buyers are at serious risk of being used by criminals engaged in money laundering, which can have serious consequences. Because willful blindness is no defense, the conference and the initiative provided valuable practical advice.
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Topics:
Pierre Gabus,
Anne Laure Bandle,
Art Dealers Association of Switzerland,
Art Law Foundation,
Geneva,
Sandrine Giroud,
Luxembourg,
Switzerland,
Art Law Centre,
University of Geneva,
AML,
Terrorist financing,
Sylvia Furrer Hoffmann,
Ricardo Sansoletti,
Ursula Cassani,
Simon Studer,
Mathilde Heaton,
Fondation pour le Droit d’Art,
Jean-Bernard Schmid,
Rakhi Talwar,
Ralph Wyss,
Responsible Art Market initiative,
Money laundering,
Stiftung Kunsthalle,
Bern,
Deloitte
