New Customs FAQ on AML/CFT – A Resource for Art Market Professionals
At the time when the SNA hosted Customs on 19 June for a webinar dedicated to the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) — and more specifically to the areas of control concerning art market actors (art dealers, galleries, auction houses, jewellers, goldsmiths) — Customs announced the forthcoming publication of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on its website. Highly useful because of its practical approach, the FAQ is now available HERE.
Structured around a general framework applicable to the entire art sector, along with sections specific to art and antiques dealers, voluntary sales operators and dealers in precious stones and metals, the FAQ finally provides answers to a number of issues the SNA had raised between 2023 and 2024.
The SNA is particularly satisfied that the FAQ has addressed the following points:
- Transactions between professionals do not, by definition, justify the application of simplified due diligence; if a professional considers the AML/CFT risk to be low, this must be substantiated.
- Customs has clarified its expectations concerning the practices of “consignment” (dépôt-vente) and “shared purchase” (achat à demi), and has also specified how obligations under AML/CFT must be applied when participating in fairs.
- Customs is not opposed to art dealers building their internal procedures on the basis of a template drawn up by a professional association (e.g. the template circulated by the SNA as of December 2023):
• it nonetheless specifies that it does not formally accredit such documents, while acknowledging that they help professionals better appropriate AML/CFT obligations;
• it requires that these templates be duly adapted to the activity and organisation of each professional;
• by producing examples of recommended client forms, Customs validates the relevance of the client form included in the SNA’s template.
- While certain AML/CFT compliance solutions available on the art market may serve as useful support tools in implementing professional obligations, their use is in no way mandatory and Customs does not accredit any of these market solutions. On this point, the SNA regrets what it considers an overly simplistic stance by Customs, which:
• recalls that professionals subject to AML/CFT obligations have free access to the French register of beneficial owners, while failing to mention that this register is not relevant when most clients are foreign companies;
• suggests that professionals could themselves verify whether their client is a politically exposed person (PEP), whereas such information is rarely accessible outside the European Union.
Customs underlines that the FAQ is intended to be an evolving tool (it has already been updated since its initial publication in late June 2025), based on operational situations encountered during its controls.
It therefore stresses the importance for art market actors to stay connected to its dedicated AML/CFT page through the subscription form for AML/CFT “flash info”. This subscription not only demonstrates that an art dealer is engaged with AML/CFT compliance, but also ensures awareness of when internal procedures need updating in response to current developments.
The SNA recalls that, since summer 2023, it has been engaged in a constructive dialogue with Customs to raise awareness among its members of the need to have such procedures in place, as well as to prepare a mapping and classification of the specific money-laundering risks they face. The SNA has also supported many members in raising awareness of AML/CFT obligations, thus reducing the risk of penalties in the event of a control for failing to meet training requirements.
Alexandre Marion