Law, crime and regulation

A JUDGE’S ruling over an antique steel knife has challenged the policy of “Let the Buyer Beware” and may affect auctioneers’ cataloguing practices and their terms and conditions.

A dealer who agreed a price for a table and then resold it to another party at a higher sum has been told by a judge to pay compensation to his original buyer.

SOTHEBY’S and Christie’s have launched an unprecedented attack on France’s auction laws in a bid to halt Paris’s decades-long decline as a market force.

POLICE are on the lookout for a gang of thieves who stole a chest of antique coins worth over £150,000 from London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb. They are believed to be the same people who targeted dealers in Hatton Garden late last year.

The last privately owned copy of Magna Carta will remain in the USA after its $19m (£9.8m) purchase by billionaire David Rubenstein.

THIEVES have stolen a collection of war medals Ð including five Victoria Crosses Ð awarded to 12 of New ZealandÕs most highly decorated servicemen. The burglary took place shortly after 1am on December 2 at the Army Museum in Waiouru.

DEALERS are being asked to look out for the couple, pictured here, who attempted to steal a tea caddy from Patrick Sandberg Antiques in London’s Kensington Church Street on November 28.

EU ruling may supersede court decision on eBay’s status

Bonhams are being sued in a case that could have a significant impact on contracts between vendors and auction houses.

SPECIALIST glass dealer Ron Wheeler is alerting the trade to a possible scam after being approached via email by someone looking for gifts.

TREASURY plans to close tax loopholes for the wealthiest foreigners living in the UK could seriously damage the art market, it is feared.

Ten Mouseman stools were stolen from The Forresters Arms Hotel in Kilburn, North Yorkshire in the early hours of Monday, November 26.

THE British Museum were credited with uncovering the fraud that led to the jailing of serial faker Shaun Greenhalgh two weeks ago, while auction houses and the trade were criticised for selling his work.

A Kent dealer has fallen victim to a thief whose practised deception suggests he will strike again.

A gang of thieves are targeting dealers in Hatton Garden, using diversionary tactics to grab briefcases and bags.

Lawrence B. Salander, the embattled Manhattan art dealer, has filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy protection citing debts of between $50m and $100m.

FOUR men have been bailed until Ferbruary 25 next year following the police investigation into the theft of five L.S. Lowry paintings.

A private San Francisco bank has emerged as one of the largest creditors of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries.

New York Old Master dealers Salander-O’Reilly are expected to file for bankruptcy after a state judge ordered their gallery to be closed indefinitely.

£10,000 reward put up as police reveal that painting could hold the key to unsolved mystery