By Poppy Kemp
In April of 2022, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (‘HMRC’) commenced fining Art Market Participants under the UK’s Art Anti-Money Laundering (‘AML’) regulations.[1] The highest fine assessed so far is £52,000, while the lowest is £1,250.[2] These regulations enacted the European Union’s (‘EU’) Fifth AML Directive (‘the Directive’) into British law and aim to break the cycle between money laundering and terrorist financing.
After exploring the background to the UK’s Art AML law and summarizing its provisions, this article concludes that the indiscriminate nature of the regulation places too onerous a burden on the smallest art market participants. Further, their efficacy is limited as they do not apply to the digital art market. To remedy these issues, different degrees of compliance should be required depending on the size of the art market participant and the regulations should apply to digital assets.
EU 5th AML Directive
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