The art market has long had a reputation for being opaque. Antique items whose origins are difficult to trace, confidential transactions and anonymous sellers cloud the industry in an air of mystery – a fact that often prevents prospective buyers from participating. According to Artsy's Art Market Report 2025, 69% of buyers surveyed said that they were less likely to buy something due to a lack of transparency about the item. To add to that, only 18% of collectors believe galleries are doing enough to educate and engage new collectors – highlighting that accessibility, which complements transparency, is also an industry-wide issue. In this article, we'll explore the challenges stemming from the lack of transparency in the art market – and how recent anti-money laundering (AML) legislation aims to change this.

What's happening?

The UK government has recently turned its focus towards AML regulations, particularly in the art industry. Since 2021, companies selling more than €10,000 of art in one transaction have been required to register as art-market participants with HMRC. This would allow buyers to identify sellers – representing a significant shift away from the industry’s reputation for confidentiality and discretion, which it has earned due to the ease with which items can be sold and transported anonymously. Though the fines imposed by HMRC for non-compliance with this registration have been small, they've also been multitudinous. HMRC has issued 147 fines against different companies since 2022. 

Prominent art houses and galleries have also recently been fined for non-compliance with AML legislation, among them White Cube, Arcadia Missa and Tiwani Contemporary. Even art advisers, such as Helen Macintyre, adviser to the Qatari royal family, have been fined in a nationwide attempt to crack down on non-compliance.

Why is it happening in the art market?

The art market is an easy target for money laundering. Transactions have always typically been confidential, and the origins of items, especially antiques, are often difficult to trace. High-value artworks are attractive to those looking to legitimise criminal funds, while the global nature of this market and its dependence on intermediaries, such as galleries and auction houses, makes tracing the origins and trajectories of funds even more difficult.

What does this mean for art lawyers?  

Recent governmental crackdowns on non-compliance with money laundering regulations signifies the strengthening of this regulatory landscape. It means that art lawyers may have more work to do ensuring compliance with regulations new and old, conducting more extensive client due diligence and advising clients on structuring transactions in accordance with legislation (as well as the potentially onerous consequences of non-compliance). It also represents the industry's wider move towards greater transparency – something it has historically lacked.

This is in line with wider regional regulatory trends, such as recent EU regulation that's set to come into force in June, which purports to impose more stringent conditions on transporting cultural goods, especially antiques.

These developments represent a broader move in the industry to build a culture of greater transparency – a welcome change that may serve to expand the market's reach. Though these changes represent new, potentially onerous challenges for sellers, especially when selling older items whose histories are much harder to record. It represents an overall shift towards greater openness, transparency and the preservation of cultural goods. As someone interested in the art industry, these changes signal the types of new challenges art lawyers may have to deal with in the future – alongside their consequences, both positive and negative.