Law, crime and regulation

An important glazed Islamic calligraphic tile stolen in Uzbekistan is to be returned to the country after it was discovered for sale in a London gallery.

New rules coming into force in January 2018 mean that dealers and auctioneers can no longer add extra charges to cover credit or debit card fees when processing transactions.

The new arts minister John Glen MP has vowed he will do all he can to support the art market’s interests in government.

Small businesses are celebrating after plans to enforce online quarterly reporting were delayed by government.

Glafira Rosales, the Long Island art dealer who in 2013 pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in the Knoedler art forgery case, has been ordered to pay $81m to victims of the fraud.

A dealer is on trial in Newport Crown Court charged with 11 counts of fraud and three of handling stolen goods.

The prospect of a total ban on the trade in ivory re-emerged this week after foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the government has “a commitment to an all-out ban on the sale of ivory in this country, and that is what we intend to pursue”.

Hong Kong’s bill to ban the domestic ivory trade does allow for the trade in antiques containing ivory, it has emerged.

A large high street chain in the US has been fined $3m in connection with the purchase and importing of a large number of ancient Iraqi artefacts.

Four Chinese jade vessels have sold for 10 times their estimate after being stolen more than 12 years ago.

The Metropolitan Police are investigating claims of a £3m theft from art fair Masterpiece London.

An action group that campaigns for the protection of elephants staged a protest against the trade in antique ivory outside Art & Antiques Fair Olympia, on Saturday afternoon (July 1).

The department of culture, media and sport has issued an export bar on an 18th century drawing of Schmadribach Waterfall by Austrian Romantic artist Joseph Anton Koch (1768-1839) and launched a search for a UK buyer to match the asking price of £68,750.

Police are appealing to the trade to help locate jewellery stolen in Shropshire.

Three men have been charged in a New York court in connection with a $400,000 scam to sell fake artworks by Damien Hirst.