Law, crime and regulation

Auction houses and art dealers are warned to be prepared for visits from HM Revenue & Customs officials checking anti-money laundering procedures.

Ownership claims can rest on a six-year restriction and proving good faith

Demands are growing in the antiquities trade for the British Museum to publish a list of objects stolen in an alleged theft from its collection by a member of staff.

Richard Beale, director of the London auction house Roma Numismatics, has pleaded guilty to a series of charges in connection with unlawful sales of ancient coins.

Concerns have been raised in the antiquities trade that items allegedly stolen from the British Museum by a staff member and offered on eBay may start emerging on the wider market.

Nearly 50 people are hoping to reclaim pictures they had consigned to failed art gallery Trinity House Paintings.

The ivory-made launching mallet and silver casket from the ill-fated RMS Empress of Ireland came for sale at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow.

Market and fair organisers have told ATG they are bolstering security following a spate of recent thefts targeting the jewellery trade.

A previously lost tapestry, commissioned by Henry VIII for Hampton Court during the turmoil of the English Reformation, is a step closer to returning to the UK for public display.

New laws introduced under the Treasure Act take effect from July 30, in a bid for more antiquities finds to be bought by museums.

A group of drawings which helped develop the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have been temporarily blocked from export in the hope a UK buyer can step in.