Andy Warhol, Dollar Signs, 1982
The new EU wide anti-money laundering measurements, which will affect art dealers, galleries and their clients, came into effect on January 1, 2020. This legislation requires all galleries within the EU to follow certain mandatory procedures to verify client identity which applies to both new and existing clients, regardless of location or length of relationship. Where we are dealing with art advisors acting on behalf of their clients, we are required to run checks on both the advisor and the final client.
This entails the following:
Collecting full details on individuals, including name, address, phone number and email or trade register extract, VAT number and documentation of directors/ owners when dealing with business.
Collecting an ID documentation, in form of a copy of passport of photo ID.
We will require payment of our invoice to be made from the bank account held in the name of the party on the invoice. If the purchase is being paid for by a third party, we will only be able to accept funds following confirmation of the source of the funds in line with these new legal requirements.
We are taking an informed and measured approach to implementing the new legislation in our business and all data, personal and corporate, will always remain confidential and secure. We appreciate your understanding with this change. Should you have any questions regarding this, do not hesitate to contact us at info@wetterlinggallery.com.