Art Market Faces AML Scrutiny Under New Bipartisan Senate Bill

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced the new Art Market Integrity Act to combat the risk of money laundering.

This group includes John Fetterman (D‑PA), Chuck Grassley (R‑IA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D‑RI), Bill Cassidy (R‑LA), Andy Kim (D‑NJ), and David McCormick (R‑PA).

The bill would amend the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which has been a centerpiece of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework across financial institutions in the United States.

The BSA requires banks, casinos, money service businesses, and some non-financial sectors, such as real estate, to detect and report money laundering activities. However, it excluded the high-value art market, which is “the largest, legal unregulated industry, in the USA”  with $25 billion USD at risk of money laundering. It also leaves a gap for sanctions evasion, terrorist financing, tax fraud, and shell company schemes in the art market.

The art market in the U.S. is valued at about $25 billion, roughly 43% of global art sales.

Art Basel – UBS

The U.S. has long debated extending AML laws to the art market. Past efforts like the 2018 Illicit Art and Antiquities Trafficking Prevention Act and the 2022 ENABLERS Act failed due to industry opposition.

Despite a Treasury report confirming risks in high-value art sales, U.S. law remains without a dedicated AML framework for the art market. In contrast, the EU’s AML law includes it as a regulated sector.

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In 2025, this new law extends anti‑money laundering (AML) and counter‑terrorism financing (CTF) rules to art market intermediaries, including dealers, galleries, auction houses, museums, and art advisors.

This law does not apply to artists selling their work and sets a threshold for small businesses with less than $50,000 in annual transactions. It targets high‑value art deals. And aligns U.S. rules with those in the EU, UK, Switzerland, and China. 

Senator Whitehouse said:

“Kleptocrats, foreign adversaries, and other bad actors abuse the opaque nature of the high‑end art market to evade American sanctions and stow their loot behind the rule of law.” 

Senator Fetterman added:

“Art should be for art‑lovers, not terrorists and criminals.” 

Transparency International U.S., the Antiquities Coalition, FACT Coalition, FLEOA, and other groups have endorsed the new bill as an effective measure to prevent money laundering in the Art Market. If passed, the Act would require art intermediaries to perform customer due diligence, record keeping, and report suspicious activity, as banks and jewelers do.

Supporters argue the bill protects the integrity of a major industry and helps stop criminals from hiding illicit funds in art. It also gives banks and law enforcement better visibility into suspicious activity 

As regulatory pressure grows, art market participants will need robust tools to meet compliance expectations. They require advanced risk profiling, transaction monitoring, and AML screening, which can help galleries, auction houses, and advisors detect suspicious behavior.