Law, crime and regulation

The ongoing legal dispute between Dmitry Rybolovlev, the vendor of Leonardo’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ which sold this month for $450m at Christie’s New York, and the Swiss businessman Yves Bouvier from whom he acquired it may be heading to the UK courts.

Small businesses were given a small reprieve in chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement today with an update on business rates and the VAT threshold.

The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) has teamed up with Descartes Systems Group to help members manage interactions with Customs Authorities.

A Salvador Dalí Mae West lips sofa has been blocked from export in the hope a buyer can be found to pay nearly £500,000 to keep it in the UK.

A huge collection of manuscripts from investment scheme Aristophil will finally be resold in Paris after a two-year wait.

The conviction of a firearms dealer from Gloucestershire has highlighted the problem of antique weapons being adapted for criminal use.

The perceived lack of regulation and transparency in the art market is a source of concern for investment advisers, according to the latest Art & Finance Report 2017.

A bronze statue by Henri Matisse has been rediscovered after it was stolen nearly 30 years ago.

Camille Pissarro’s ‘Picking Peas’ is at the centre of a court battle in France between its current owner and descendants of the Jewish owner who was forced to part with it by the Nazis during the Second World War.

An antiques dealer from Wimbledon has been arrested and charged following the death of a seven-year-old girl.

Arts minister John Glen has placed a temporary export bar on a rare book with unique annotations to provide an opportunity to keep it in the country.

A 17th-century Dutch painting looted during the Second World War, which has been in the collection of the Lord Mayor of the City of London since the 1980s, is finally being returned to its rightful heir.

The government has unveiled a dedicated advice line to help small and micro businesses such as auction houses and dealerships to prepare for new data protection laws coming into force in May 2018.

Police are appealing for information and offering a reward after antiques were seized by masked raiders in a robbery near Bristol.