Law, crime and regulation

The government is launching a consultation on the future of the export system for art, antiques and antiquities, with the aim of forcing owners to ‘honour their commitment’ to sell when a matching offer is made from a UK buyer.

The ivory bill, which proposes a near-total ban on the trade in ivory, has passed its final stage in the House of Commons and is awaiting Royal Assent before it can become law next year.

An exceptionally rare Western Zhou bronze, taken when the Summer Palace was sacked by British troops in 1860, has been returned to China.

Tapestry and textiles specialist Franses won a landmark Supreme Court case against its landlord the Cavendish Hotel, allowing it to continue to operate from the London gallery that has been its home for more than 25 years.

The UK government has issued an export bar for JMW Turner’s ‘Walton Bridges’, valued at £3.4m.

The police and the owners of a Cartier jewel-encrusted tiara are appealing for help to track it down after it was stolen from The Welbeck Estate in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

It has been reported that a man and two accomplices walked into auction house Dorotheum in Vienna earlier this week and walked out with a Renoir that was due to be auctioned.

Sotheby’s is the latest auction house to pull the sale of rhinocerous horn artefacts from its auction.

An antiques dealer is appealing to the trade to help locate stolen stock.

The UK government has issued an export bar for Nainsukh of Guler’s ‘Trumpeters’, valued at £550,000.

Art dealers and auction house experts have been struck from all TEFAF vetting panels following the introduction of a new global policy.

The UK government has issued an export bar on a previously lost Antonio Canova bust that sold at a Sotheby’s auction earlier this summer.

Small antiques shops and art galleries have been given a reprieve on business rates with Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announcing a cut by a third for many small businesses.

The UK government’s Brexit documents reveal that in the event of a no-deal with the European Union it will not be aligned with EU regulations on cross-border trade for cultural property.