EU Plans to Lower Money Laundering Risk Rating for the Art Trade
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is planning to lower how it rates the risk that the art trade is used to hide dirty money. In its upcoming 2026 assessment, the threat linked to art and antiques moves from high to moderate. ArtNews reported the plan.
Money laundering means passing money from crime through legal-looking deals so it appears clean. The 2022 assessment rated art and antiques as high risk. The new draft cites limited evidence from inside the EU for keeping that rating high. A Commission spokesperson told the Financial Times that the risk assessment has not yet been finalised.
The plan was discussed at a meeting in Brussels on January 29, 2026. The Commission's Expert Sub-Group on Dialogue with the Art Market heard key findings from the upcoming report, presented by the Commission's finance directorate. The secondary art market, meaning resales handled by dealers, auction houses and private sellers, is still rated as particularly exposed to criminal exploitation. Its threat level is moderate, or level 2 on the Commission's scale. Meeting minutes say the full report will be published in 2026.
The EU already has rules aimed at the trade. The EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation now covers operators who deal in cultural goods. It also caps large cash payments at 10,000 euros. An EU action plan against trafficking in cultural goods says the anti-money laundering directive applies to galleries and auction houses.
Other bodies still link the sector to crime. Europol, the EU's police agency, says cultural goods crime and money laundering are closely connected. A 2026 European External Action Service document says heritage trafficking remains tied to organised crime and, in some places, to money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Financial Action Task Force, the global watchdog on dirty money, produced the first report focused on money laundering and terrorist financing in art, antiquities and other cultural goods. It found that criminals, organised crime groups and terrorists have used the art and antiquities market to launder money and fund their activities.
The EU is also building a new body to police money laundering. Reuters reported in February that the authority is on track to be fully operational in 2028.
For buyers and sellers, the most visible change so far is the proposed lower rating. The rules that already apply to galleries, auction houses and dealers are unchanged by that rating. The final report, due later in 2026, will show whether the Commission keeps the lower figure.
