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The Responsible Art Market Initiative (“RAM”) is a cross industry initiative formed in Geneva in 2015. RAM’s members span the entire spectrum of the art market from galleries, dealers, auction houses, advisors and service providers, to lawyers, academics and public prosecutors specialising in art related matters.

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RAM has published a set of guidelines on countering money laundering and terrorist financing threats. 

These Guidelines aim to:

• raise awareness in the art market of the threats and risks of money laundering and terrorist financing;

• provide a general framework and understanding of “risk based” anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures, including the key elements of client, artwork and transaction due diligence;

• help Art Businesses:

  • implement “risk based” anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures appropriate to the size and nature of their business;

  • identify “red flags” (indicators of suspicious activity) and take appropriate action in response.

Ultimately these Guidelines aim to facilitate transactions in artworks (rather than hinder them) by encouraging responsible practices by all art market participants.

 

The initiative also produced a list of red flag situations which may indicate increased money laundering and terrorist financing risks and provides recommendations for dealing with them.   

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Together with Mathilde Heaton and Sandrine Giroud, I launched the guidelines in January 2017.

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For more information on RAM, please visit its website.