New challenges for the art and cultural market

Our art and finance services

• Forensic, anti-money laundering (AML), and business intelligence services
• Art fund investment services: Integrating art/collectibles in your investment strategy, monitoring and selecting art funds, review of funds' performance, regulatory, compliance and fund registration, fund reporting, a statutory and contractual audit of the financial statements
• Tax services: Direct and indirect taxation, tax compliance, valuation advice, tax efficient repatriation strategy, tax reporting, and estate planning
• Collection management and logistics services: Inventory, advisory on service providers for collection management software systems, transportation, storage, package, framing, lighting, security, and insurance
• Advisory services: Art-secured lending advisory, strategic analysis, market studies, target audience, cost control, cultural plan, feasibility studies, planning loans to museums, customer practice and marketing, branding, and image services
• Financial services: Corporate finance services, marketing, and investor road-show presentations, preparation of investor presentation materials, business plan, economic impact assessment, financial health check, fundraising audit and development, and capital raising

Back to top

Art and finance report

It is now six years since the first issue of the report was published and it has been exciting to follow and monitor how the art and finance industry has evolved over the years. In this anniversary report, we have brought together and compared the findings and developments from the previous four editions with this year’s findings.

Increasing competition in the wealth management industry has put emphasis on a more holistic wealth management model, which has become a key driver and motivation for incorporating art-related wealth into the service offering.

Read more in our art and finance report.

Back to top

Art is your passion...Tax is ours

Individuals, family offices, and asset managers are increasingly interested in art and collectibles as a diversification tool in investment portfolios. Yet many individuals and families also appreciate art for the non-monetary emotional and societal value it represents. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s network of member firms has a global reach that allows us to provide services to clients in the US market and abroad to address the complex tax-related issues of owning and investing in art in the global market.

The Deloitte Tax Art & Finance Group is passionate about helping our client’s structure and maintains their art collections in a tax efficient manner.

Learn more about the Deloitte Tax & Art Finance Group. 

Back to top

Business intelligence and anti-money laundering services

The artwork is a highly valued, easily transported, and a unique capital asset that is traded across borders in relative opacity with minimal government oversight. Regulatory organizations and art enterprises increasingly understand that these conditions are too often exploited for money laundering, fraud, and an assortment of illegal financial schemes.

Thorough due diligence can help combat these risks. It is important to perform comprehensive research into sellers, vendors, purchasers, and the artwork itself to safeguard against crimes that are specific to the art market. Toward that end, ‘knowing your counterparties’ ('KYC') is more than merely collecting identification documents. Detailed KYC involves a thorough check of counterparties’ backgrounds, sources of wealth, associations, beneficiaries, and reputations.

Back to top

Five insights into the art market and money laundering

Connoisseurs and collectors may not view rare artwork as commodities. But frequently that’s how cultural objects are perceived in the marketplace, where legitimate investors and businesses see both aesthetic and financial value in paintings, antiquities, and other art forms. Illegitimate investors and businesses see additional value in these objects: the means to mask, move, and leverage ill-gotten proceeds.

Institutions, collectors, and governmental authorities are working to stem the use of art for money laundering. These five insights aim to inform their efforts.

Back to top

Contact us