How Artsy Is Responding to the New EU Anti–Money Laundering Directive

You may have heard about the new EU Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measure that went into effect on January 1st, 2020 (often referred to as the AML 5th Directive) that affects art dealers and auction houses. We want you to know that Artsy is both aware of these changes and taking steps to comply with this new law. We take money laundering very seriously, and we believe that these new regulations will help foster greater trust and credibility in the art market. 

How does this law affect Artsy?

The 5th Directive regulates art dealers and auction houses in the EU, as well as the United Kingdom, in a similar manner to credit and financial institutions. The most significant change is that now, anyone trading or acting as an intermediary in an art transaction where the value of the transaction is over €10,000 will be subject to additional checks.

How is Artsy responding?

Here’s what Artsy is doing to respond to the 5th Directive, to foster a deeper level of trust in the art market, and to make the buying process as smooth, secure, and efficient as possible for collectors on Artsy. We will be taking a risk-based approach, which includes:

• Training our staff
• Implementing new policies that satisfy these new regulations and requirements, building on our already industry-standard security and anti-fraud practices
• Deploying new technologies that further strengthen trust and confidence in our marketplace, as well as providing additional layers of identity verification

These steps are in addition to the marketplace security we already provide through technology like Stripe Radar, augmented by protocols drawn from our deep experience in the online art market.

How does Artsy’s Verification work?

Artsy does this by working with a verification partner that will securely validate that the collector's government ID (commonly a driver's license, passport, or national ID card) is real and that a photo of the collector matches the photo on their ID.

Artsy will not require identity verification for users unless they are purchasing certain artworks or registering for auctions that require bidders to be verified. We review all transactions that qualify under the EU AML 5th directive.

As part of these reviews we Artsy carries out the following procedures:

• Confirm payment details to ensure the person paying is the person completing the checks
• Verify a government-issued ID
• Verify a selfie to ensure the person on the ID is the person submitting the documents
• Screen the person through 80+ watchlists including OFAC, sanctions, Politically Exposed Persons, and adverse media

Note: Our Trust and Safety team will notify a seller to hold shipment while checks are being completed and provide a confirmation email once the transaction has been approved. If you would like to complete your own checks on a collector, we will put you in contact directly. Artsy will not force a collector to complete the process with you, so it is up to the individual user’s discretion. 

For more information on the EU Anti–Money Laundering Directive, contact our Trust and Safety team at trust@artsy.net.

For more information about verification, contact our Verification Team at verification@artsy.net.