Law, crime and regulation

Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr, has swooped on the antiquities collection of hedge-fund manager and philanthropist Michael H. Steinhardt.

A classic vedute by Francesco Guardi (1712-93) that sold at Christie’s in London this summer has been blocked from export.

The government received more than 60,000 responses to the public consultation on the banning of the ivory trade in the UK - making it one of Defra’s most popular ever.

Conservative peer Lord Cormack has argued against a “knee-jerk” total ban on the trade in ivory.

Heritage Auctions has withdrawn from sale ‘the world’s oldest Nobel Prize medal ever offered at auction’ after doubts were expressed over its authenticity.

A debate over the government-proposed ivory trade ban in the UK will be heard in the House of Lords this week ahead of the closure of the government consultation on the topic on December 29.

The Marquis de Sade’s manuscript, 120 Days of Sodom, and André Breton’s Surrealist Manifestos have been declared national treasure by the French government and have been withdrawn from a planned auction tomorrow.

A statue of Pan was stolen from Sir William and Lady McAlpine’s Fawley Hill home in Buckinghamshire at the weekend and the couple are calling on the trade to help locate the artwork.

Recovered from a US buyer, three historic cannons are returning to Southend for a new exhibition.

At the eleventh hour, Christie’s has taken the decision to withdraw the headline lot from the December 13 Books and Manuscripts sale in London after serious doubts were expressed over its authenticity.