AC Interactives Illustrate How Anti-Money Laundering Legislation Is Increasingly Protecting the Art Market in the United States and Globally

The Antiquities Coalition’s Financial Crimes Task Force has joined many others in urging Congress to include the art market in the country’s main anti-money laundering (AML) legislation, the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, which requires at-risk institutions to assist the U.S. government in detecting and preventing financial crimes. 

On July 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, which would amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, so as to apply the BSA to dealers in art and antiquities. While the bill remains pending in the U.S. Senate, its initial passage in the House is a great step forward in our fight to defend the art market—and it’s also been a long time coming.

We shed light on how the U.S. got from the advent of the Bank Secrecy Act to this monumental accomplishment in our interactive timeline of U.S. Anti-Money Laundering Legislation, featured below:


In addition to this timeline, we have also published a map of foreign anti-money laundering legislation, allowing readers to compare how the U.S. and other countries around the world safeguard their respective art markets—and, in particular, to see how the protections enacted by the U.S. still trail behind those already enacted in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the European Union. Take a look:

These interactives were first published in the September 24 release of our Financial Crimes Task Force report. Devised by a diverse group of experts, this report features 44 recommendations for how the U.S. government, the U.S. financial industry, the international community and the U.S. art and antiquities sector can work together to keep financial crimes out of the American art market.

For more information about the Financial Crimes Task Force and its recent report, click here.

Financial Crimes Task Force Unveils Action Plan to Protect $28.3B U.S. Art Market and National Security

 

Comprehensive Report Follows Revelations that America’s Enemies Are Using Regulatory Loopholes to Launder Money and Evade Sanctions

Washington, DC, September 24, 2020: Today, the Antiquities Coalition Financial Crimes Task Force released Reframing U.S. Policy on the Art Market: Recommendations for Combating Financial Crimes. This report details how the $28.3 billion American art market, the largest in the world, is threatened by money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related crimes, while providing solutions on how to address these challenges.

Published on an interactive website by the Antiquities Coalition, a not-for-profit organization and non-partisan think tank, and authored by industry leaders, the report lays out documented risks facing the art market from criminal activity. In July, a bipartisan Senate investigation warned that a pair of Russian oligarchs had laundered millions through American auction houses and dealers, evading U.S. sanctions imposed on Vladimir Putin’s inner circle following his invasion of Ukraine. It was just the latest example of how criminals have exploited the $64.1 billion global art market, with serious implications for national security and economic integrity—as well as legitimate collectors, dealers, auction houses, and museums.

The Antiquities Coalition convened the Financial Crimes Task Force, the first of its kind, with leading experts in the cultural heritage, financial sector, and legal communities, as well as former law enforcement and government officials. Their report today calls for new policies, practices, and priorities to be adopted by the federal government, law enforcement, the private sector, and international institutions.

“One of the critical recommendations in the report is to extend the Bank Secrecy Act to include the art and antiquities market,” said Deborah Lehr, chairman and founder of the Antiquities Coalition. “Hundreds of millions of dollars can change hands in these transactions, but the buyer and the seller can still remain anonymous. It is important to bring some transparency to this trade.”

John Byrne, co-chair of the Task Force and former executive vice president of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), said, “Extending the Bank Secrecy Act is necessary, as lack of coverage has permitted the movement of art and antiquities as a method to hide and disguise illicit funds. Many of us have an important role to play in detecting and reporting potential illegal activity, and that industry needs to be part of this important mission.”

The Russian revelations are not the only developments giving this work urgency. While COVID-19 has cost the art world billions in losses, at the same time, auctions have continued to set record prices. Moreover, some high-risk areas of the market, like loaning money against art or antiquities as collateral, are skyrocketing even as others shut down. And, while lockdowns have shuttered above board dealers, galleries, and auction houses, the international black market has stayed wide open for business.

The full Task Force report is available on the Antiquities Coalition’s website at theantiquitiescoalition.org.

 


 

About the Antiquities Coalition

To protect our shared heritage and global security, the Antiquities Coalition is leading the international campaign against cultural racketeering, the illicit trade in ancient art and artifacts. We champion better law and policy, foster diplomatic cooperation, and advance proven solutions with public and private partners worldwide. We are working toward a future when the past is preserved for the next generation, not looted, smuggled, and sold to finance crime, conflict, and terror. Learn more at theantiquitiescoalition.org.

 

Thumbnail Credit: Alex Sava/Getty Images

Think Tank Advocates New Tactics to Battle the Impact of Climate Change on Cultural Heritage

New Antiquities Coalition Policy Brief Makes Recommendations for World Heritage Sites

In light of Climate Week NYC 2020, hosted by the Climate Group in association with the United Nations and the City of New York from September 21 to September 27, The Antiquities Coalition has released a Policy Brief that examines the climate change-related risks facing cultural World Heritage Sites and makes recommendations for how to assess and mitigate those risks.

Climate change is a top global threat to all aspects of our world, including our shared cultural heritage. According to the UN, even if all countries were to implement their respective Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, we can expect a 3.2C temperature rise this century, resulting in significant instability and associated risks. Terry Townshend, a Beijing-based conservation and climate change expert, makes recommendations for how World Heritages Sites can face these threats in his new Policy Brief, “How Will Climate Change Affect Cultural Heritage? Recommendations for Mitigating Risks.”

Townshend argues that assessment and planning are necessary steps to take now in order for us to be prepared to address the challenges posed by climate change: “Given that a significant level of climate change is ‘locked-in’, even if countries fulfill their NDCs under the Paris Agreement, there is a need to consider and plan for actions to reduce the adverse impacts which may arise, and to identify and harness any beneficial opportunities.” 

Townshend discusses direct and indirect risks to World Heritage Sites, opportunities and adaptation response examples, as well as several case studies. He makes several recommendations that could help UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee maximize the resilience of World Heritage Sites around the world against the impacts of climate change, such as suggesting that all World Heritage Sites undertake a bespoke climate change risk assessment and develop an adaptation plan as soon as possible.

For a summary and link to the policy brief, visit: https://thinktank.theantiquitiescoalition.org/how-will-climate-change-affect-cultural-heritage/

 


 

About the Antiquities Coalition 

The Antiquities Coalition unites a diverse group of experts in the international campaign against cultural racketeering, the illicit trade in art and antiquities. This plunder-for-profit funds crime, conflict, and violent extremist organizations around the world. By championing better law and policy, fostering diplomatic cooperation, and advancing proven solutions with public and private partners worldwide, the Antiquities Coalition empowers communities and countries in crisis to safeguard cultural heritage for future generations. 

Launched in 2016, the Antiquities Coalition Think Tank joins forces with international experts, including leaders in the fields of preservation, business, law, security, and technology, to bring high-quality, results-oriented research to the world’s decision-makers, especially those in the government and private sectors. Policy briefs strive to strengthen policy makers’ understanding of the challenges facing collective human heritage, and to help them develop better solutions to protect it.

Webinar Registration: Join Us Live for the Release of the Financial Crimes Task Force Report

This summer, Congress released the results of a two year, bipartisan investigation confirming what the Antiquities Coalition and many members of the anti-money laundering community have long warned: Bad actors are exploiting the $28.3 billion American art market—with serious consequences for the United States, our national security, and the responsible art market.

The art market is a rapidly growing global trade, with weak regulations. The United States remains the world’s largest art market, valued at $28.3 billion, and accounting for 44% of the global total in 2019. Furthermore, art and collectible wealth held by ultra-high-net-worth individuals is predicted to grow from $1.62 trillion in 2016 to an estimated $2.7 trillion in 2026. Such rapid growth, coupled with weak regulation, has made the art market increasingly attractive to criminals. 

Bad actors—including terrorist groups, kleptocrats, oligarchs, drug smugglers, and many others—have discovered the art market’s weaknesses, and merely exploit existing distribution channels to launder money, acquire arms, and extend their violent campaigns.

How can the U.S. government and private sector fight back? The Antiquities Coalition convened the Financial Crimes Task Force to explore solutions to this growing challenge and serve as an ongoing resource to policymakers. Chaired by Deborah Lehr, Antiquities Coalition chairman and founder, and John Byrne, vice chairman of AML RightSource, the Task Force brings together allies from the art, financial, and legal communities, as well as former law enforcement and government officials. Over the last year and a half, they have worked together to develop concrete solutions to protect the American art market from money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions violations, tax evasion, fraud, forgery, and other financial crimes.

The resulting report calls for new policies, practices, and priorities for the United States to implement on its own and in conjunction with the private sector and international community.

Join the Financial Crimes Task Force at 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 24, as they release their seminal report at this free, online event.  Leading experts will discuss the findings of this multi-stakeholder initiative, offering insight into how the U.S. Government, art, and financial sectors can work together to combat crimes via cultural property.

Antiquities Coalition Partners with Blue Shield International and Genocide Watch in Submitting Amicus Curiae Brief to ICC

What is an “attack” against cultural heritage under the law of the International Criminal Court? On September 18, the Antiquities Coalition sought to answer this question when it joined Blue Shield International and Genocide Watch in submitting an amicus curiae brief to the ICC, challenging the “narrowly restricted” nature of a recent interpretation made by Trial Chamber VI in the case of The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda.

About The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda

On July 8, 2019, Trial Chamber VI convicted Bosco Ntaganda, allegedly the former Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), on 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity—which, according to the Open Society Justice Initiative, was “the highest amount of charges in any case to reach the judgment stage before the court.”

According to Trial Chamber VI, Ntaganda held individual criminal responsibility for acts the FPLC militia committed between 2002 and 2003, including 13 kinds of war crimes (“murder and attempted murder; attacking civilians; rape; sexual slavery of civilians; pillaging; displacement of civilians; attacking protected objects; destroying the enemy’s property; rape and sexual slavery of child soldiers; and enlisting and conscripting child soldiers under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities,” according to the Open Society Justice Initiative) and 5 counts of crimes against humanity (“murder and attempted murder; rape; sexual slavery; persecution; and forcible transfer of population,” according to the Open Society Justice Initiative).

On November 7, 2019, Ntaganda was sentenced to 30 years in prison—the longest sentence ever handed down by the ICC, according to BBC News

About the Appeal

Some of Ntaganda’s criminal acts may have gone unaccounted for, according to the Prosecution, which addressed allegations relating to the destruction of a church and a hospital in an appeal brief submitted to the ICC on October 7, 2019.

Referencing one incident, the Prosecution argued that Trial Chamber IV had erroneously discontinued its evaluation “simply because it ‘took place sometime after the assault, and therefore not during the actual conduct of hostilities.”

The Prosecution both highlighted the Rome Statute’s special protections of cultural property and argued that an “attack” on a protected site like a church, as defined by Article 8(2)(e)(iv) of the Rome Statute, “only requires that the perpetrator directed an act of violence against a protected object, irrespective of whether this occurred in the conduct of hostilities or when the object was under the control of a party to the conflict.”

About the Amicus Curiae Brief

The Antiquities Coalition, Blue Shield International and Genocide Watch concurred in their September 18 amicus curiae brief, noting that if “attacks” were limited in definition to acts committed during the “conduct of hostilities,” then the Court would not recognize “the harm to the victims” of sites “attacked during continuous activities serving the military objectives of the attackers,” so long as those sites were located in places where the “heat of battle” had subsided.

“It would create an illogical gap in time following active combat during which cultural, medical and religious objects would lose their protection and those who destroy such objects would become immune from prosecution,” the amici wrote.

Such a loophole would be particularly illogical in that it would not only contradict “the distinct nature, object and purpose” of Article 8(2)(e)(iv), but also the interpretation of the same article by a previous Trial Chamber for Al Mahdi, which had found that “the element of ‘direct[ing] an attack’ encompasses any acts of violence against protected objects” and that there is no “distinction as to whether it was carried out in the conduct of hostilities or after the object had fallen under the control of an armed group.”

According to the amici, a failure to rectify this ruling would also make it more difficult to enforce accountability for individuals who may go on to initiate attacks on protected sites—as well as individuals who already have allegedly initiated attacks on protected sites, such as Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona.

The Antiquities Coalition stands by the amici’s conclusion, which states that “the term ‘attack’ under Article 8(2)(e)(iv) should not be narrowly restricted only to actions committed during the “conduct of hostilities”, or heat of battle, and should instead reflect the full framework of special protections afforded to cultural property and heritage under international law.”

To read the full amicus curiae brief, click here.

Featured Photo Credit: OSeveno, Wikimedia Commons  

Think Tank Considers the Legal Obligations of Archaeologists to Report Looting

New Antiquities Coalition Commentary Re-Examines a Critical Topic from a New Perspective

In March, the Antiquities Coalition published a policy brief by criminologist Dr. Blythe Balestrieri that examined the ethical obligations of archaeologists to report looting. Today, we are releasing a commentary that considers this same complex topic, but from a legal perspective. 

The policy paper presented by Dr. Balestrieri discussed a critical dilemma faced by field archaeologists—a dilemma that requires careful consideration by those from all disciplines dedicated to protecting cultural heritage. Justice Luigi Marini takes on this examination from a legal approach in his commentary “Do Archaeologists Have an Ethical Obligation to Report Looting? A Legal Approach.”

Marini argues that a collaborative approach through the establishment of a network with authorities, the academy and the community at the national and local levels is needed to adequately support archaeologists facing this problem. He also calls on legal practitioners to consider the issue of looting with an open mind: “…legal practitioners have the professional duty to refrain from approaching cases in a dogmatic way and provide interpretation and response that embrace the complexity of life as it is.”

Justice Luigi Marini responds to Dr. Balestrieri’s brief while presenting his own ideas on the obligations of archaeologists to report looting from his perspective as a legal expert. He offers several recommendations, centered around interdisciplinary work and substantive exchange of information and experience.

As we at the Antiquities Coalition continue our exploration of this topic, tell us what you think on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn!

For a summary and link to the commentary: https://thinktank.theantiquitiescoalition.org/a-legal-approach/

For a summary and link to Dr. Balestrieri’s brief: https://thinktank.theantiquitiescoalition.org/do-archaeologists-have-an-ethical-obligation-to-report-looting/

To view our webinar on the subject featuring Justice Marini: https://theantiquitiescoalition.org/antiquitiesdebate-explores-the-ethics-of-reporting-looting-or-not/

 


 

About the Antiquities Coalition 

The Antiquities Coalition unites a diverse group of experts in the international campaign against cultural racketeering, the illicit trade in art and antiquities. This plunder-for-profit funds crime, conflict, and violent extremist organizations around the world. By championing better law and policy, fostering diplomatic cooperation, and advancing proven solutions with public and private partners worldwide, the Antiquities Coalition empowers communities and countries in crisis to safeguard cultural heritage for future generations. 

Launched in 2016, the Antiquities Coalition Think Tank joins forces with international experts, including leaders in the fields of preservation, business, law, security, and technology, to bring high-quality, results-oriented research to the world’s decision-makers, especially those in the government and private sectors. Policy briefs strive to strengthen policy makers’ understanding of the challenges facing collective human heritage, and to help them develop better solutions to protect it.