AMLD5 and the Art Market:
Practical Training for Art Market Participants

Creative United has launched ‘AMLD5 and the Art Market’, a free, nation-wide training programme helping galleries & artists meet their obligations under new anti-money laundering regulations.

Delivered in partnership with London law firm Kingsley Napley LLP, AMLD5 and the Art Market is an Arts Council supported programme of free training sessions and workshops, offering practical advice to support art market participants to understand, assess and respond to their obligations under the new AMLD5 regime ahead of the 10 June 2021 deadline.

AMLD5 extends the current anti-money laundering legal framework to cover business activity taking place within the art market. The directive requires art market participants – galleries, auction houses, dealers and individual artists – involved in selling work directly to clients through single or linked transactions with the sale of goods in excess of €10,000 (c.£8.5k) to conduct due diligence, monitoring, and enhanced record keeping.

The update marks a considerable shift towards greater transparency, data management and regulatory control within the art market which has until now been unregulated and built largely on business practices that have relied heavily on high levels of trust and client confidentiality. 

A breach of the regulations could leave AMPs at risk of public censure, prohibitions on managing the business, financial penalties and at its most serious, criminal prosecution for offences, which carry potential sentences of imprisonment. With the new deadline now just 3 months away, it is clear that large numbers of organisations whose business activities will be caught by the legislation have yet to fully understand or implement the systems and processes that will be necessary to ensure compliance and minimise the risks associated with selling high value works of art.

Mary-Alice Stack, CEO, Creative United said:

“As a Sector Support Organisation, we are committed to ensuring that artists, galleries and other enterprises within the visual arts sector are given the support they need to adapt their business practices to take account of their legal obligations under AMLD5. 

To achieve this, it is essential that businesses at all levels of the market are given practical advice on how to comply. The vast majority of those affected by the new regulations are sole traders or micro-enterprises that simply do not have the financial resources or staff capacity to invest in meeting these regulatory requirements, which is why we are delighted to be working in partnership with Kingsley Napley to offer any AMP that needs it, free training and resources to guide them through this process.”