Art, Crime and Finance: The Full Picture

A webinar examining the crime risks faced by the art world was hosted by Rahman Ravelli and ThoughtLeaders4.

The event, entitled “Art, crime and finance: the full picture’’, was held at 11am UK time (2pm GTS) on Monday 4th September. It examined a range of legal issues and risks currently facing those who operate in the art world.

The event included a brief discussion about what constitutes the art world. It then assessed:

• The art world’s use as a vehicle for money laundering. This will include analysis of how money is laundered via the art world and involve case studies.
• Financial crimes arising from the art world. Art theft, counterfeit art works, misrepresentation of provenance/authenticity, insurance fraud, bribes in the political context and sanctions will be among the areas scrutinised.
• The US and the UK’s different approaches to regulation and prosecution.
• The role of professional experts, service providers and buyers in the theft and trafficking of cultural objects.
• The restitution of art assets looted from war zones, using MENA and Ukraine as case studies.

The panel for the webinar included:

Angelika Hellweger: A dual-qualified Austrian counsel and English solicitor. She is a specialist in international, high-level economic crime investigations and large-scale commercial disputes. As a multilingual lawyer, she has widely-recognised expertise in representing corporates and conglomerates in major projects and legal matters across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and United States.

Lara Levinson: A dual-qualified English solicitor and US lawyer at Kobre & Kim, who specialises in complex civil and appellate litigation, regulatory and internal investigations, and asset forfeiture and recovery. She previously served as Associate General Counsel at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

Helena Bowyer: A director in Ankura’s asset tracing and complex investigations practice who specialises in cross-border asset tracing, the provision of strategic intelligence in dispute resolution and aiding the enforcement of investor-state arbitral awards.

Chris Haywood, senior associate and art and luxury items specialist at Charles Russell Speechlys, will moderate.

The webinar lasted for approximately 45 minutes and was followed by 15 minutes of the panellists answering questions that were submitted in advance.

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