Mission

Ensure fair and efficient competition in the global art market

Goals

The Basel Art Trade Guidelines seek to support the art market in its efficient and fair functioning. They aim to provide practical guidance for the sale of art objects. The Guidelines seek to establish, through a self-regulatory mechanism, the provenance of an art object and the provenance of the funds used in the purchase of the object.

The scope of the Guidelines is intended to cover all art market operators as well as the objects of the market – art objects and collectable objects.

Stakeholders

The Guidelines were drafted by the Basel Institute on Governane, based on consultations with representatives of the art trade and on existing guidelines of national and international trade associations and organisations, thus seeking to harmonise and bring together market best practices. They do not seek to replace the existing rules and national law, but to complement them, providing consistency and a level playing field.

Activities

In 2018, the Basel Institute on Governance published the Basel Art Trade Anti-Money Laundering Principles, setting out in more detail the anti-money laundering aspects of the 2012/2018 Guidelines.

These principles are addressed principally to art market operators, as well as service industries that support the trade in art objects such as banks, insurance companies and lawyers. The main purpose is to help all stakeholders in the art trade being misused for money laundering.

The principle cover different thematic areas, including applying a risk-based approach, Know Your Customer (KYC), the provenance of the art object, the provenance of funds, suspicion of money laundering, reporting, and record-keeping.