Law, crime and regulation

Former porters at the Hôtel Drouot, the communal saleroom facility used by most Paris auctioneers, have been sentenced to jail for the organised theft of thousands of artworks, a French court ruled on Tuesday September 6.

Stamford dealer Stuart Porter has admitted to fraud charges in court following a long-running probe into his Lincolnshire antiques business.

A presentation at today’s Art Business Conference suggested that the future of the art market has a mirror in the recent past of the diamond industry.

A lack of clarity on issues of censorship is affecting Dubai’s role as a centre for the art market, delegates at the Art Business Conference heard today.

The UK antiques trade have been given a near clean bill of health by the leading wildlife trade monitor Traffic.

Following the lawsuits filed against New York-based appraisers Leigh and Lesley Keno, a further US regional auction house have now made a claim over unpaid debts.

A new one-day conference addressing the impact of art crime will be held in Gateshead on November 11. It will be held at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

French Energy and Environment Minister Ségolène Royal has strengthened laws in France on elephant ivory – but appeared to stop well short of a total ban suggested earlier in the year.

A temporary export bar has been placed on the coronet designed for Queen Victoria by her husband Prince Albert, giving UK buyers an opportunity to raise the £5m (plus £1m VAT) asking price to keep it in the country.

New York-based appraisers Leigh and Lesley Keno, two of the best-known faces of the US version of TV programme Antiques Roadshow, are facing increasing scrutiny as their debts mount with a string of regional auction houses.

Police are appealing for help following the theft of £10,000 worth of silver from a church in Blockley, near Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire.

The heir of the Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker is planning to appeal against a court ruling over the ownership of a pair of works by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

The government has imposed an export bar on two ivory statuettes by Balthasar Permoser (1651-1732), allowing UK buyers the opportunity to match the £1.8m price before they leave the country.

A Tudor stained glass panel attributed to Galeon Hone, glazier to King Henry VIII, has been stolen from the 16th-century Withcote Chapel, near Market Harborough in Leicestershire.

Historical documents and manuscripts from the scandal-hit Aristophil investment scheme could soon return to the market as the slow process of restitution promises to quicken in the coming weeks.

Two representatives from HMRC were part of a panel answering questions about Temporary Admissions (TA) at a BADA seminar last week.

The Bowes Museum has secured funding at a sum of nearly £2.3m to keep an exit-barred painting attributed to the workshop of Dieric Bouts the Elder in the UK.

As world legislators clamp down on the modern ivory trade, an ATG round table reveals the antique variety has a serious image problem to tackle

The Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim has had to close a major exhibition after collectors withdrew their loans following the approval of Germany’s new Cultural Property Protection Act.

German auctioneers are preparing to move sales abroad following the passing of a controversial new cultural heritage law.