About Us
We help the art world manage risk.
Art Sales Vault (ASV) helps gallery owners, art dealers and other art industry professionals understand and comply with international anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, incorporate risk management strategies into their sales process, and streamline complicated transactions.
The mission of Art Sales Vault is to provide you with comprehensive and user-friendly due diligence and money movement services that give you more time to focus on your business. All transactions are carried out inside your private ASV Vault room, ensuring that the confidentiality of sensitive information collected in the course of sales and AML compliance is protected.
ASV’s Know Your Customer (KYC) screening technology was developed specifically for the art world. The program enables you to address your risk management concerns and comply with AML regulations without unduly slowing down sales.
artXsales helps you overcome the obstacles and administrative hassle associated with money movement in the art industry with simplicity and speed. Especially when you accept large sums from overseas collectors, deal with foreign exchange transactions, and/or manage payments to intermediaries.
Our compliance consultation and training services help you create the foundation of your company’s corporate AML policies. Our team works with you to develop a customized Risk Assessment Policy that is a requirement under most AML regulations and is a useful roadmap for due diligence best practices.
Discover what ASV can do for your business
Meet Our Team
Margaret Kunstler
Team position - President
Margaret has extensive experience negotiating directly with OFAC administrators over licenses for travel and humanitarian aid to overcome embargoes. She brings unparalleled expertise of government regulations and their implementation to the art industry.
Deborah Hrbek
Team position - Chief Executive Officer
A media lawyer with a longstanding art law practice, Deborah has first-hand experience grappling with international AML compliance issues, having developed risk management programs for online payment processing companies and supervised due diligence in overseas company formations.
Amanda Field
Team position - Chief Creative Officer
Amanda has a background as an educator and arts administrator. She creates content to engage audiences and inspire change. She holds graduate degrees in writing and photography.
Joe Thillemann
Team position - Chief Technical Officer
Joe has a broad IT background in security consulting, finance and fin-tech, enterprise resource planning DevOps, systems programming, cryptographic engineering, and as a system architect and lead developer in the public sector.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who will benefit from our services?
Art dealers, gallerists, advisors, museums, estate managers, lawyers and accountants, and anyone with a financial interest in a fine art transaction over €10,000. If a buyer or seller is located within the UK or EU, compliance with UK and EU AML regulations is likely to be required.
What is the ASV Vault?
All ASV clients are given access to a private room in our virtual Vault.
In an industry where privacy is valued above all else, our robust Vault will protect the confidential information entrusted to you by your collectors and other customers, and ensure compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) obligations.
You no longer have to keep sensitive information such as confidential customer information on the office computer or in the filing cabinet down the hall. We will keep you and your customers’ information secure. With ASV, confidential documents and information can be uploaded into your private Vault via an encrypted communication.
UK and European Union (GDPR) privacy and AML regulations require art industry professionals to maintain secure records of transaction details and log their decision-making process. ASV has built the Vault to ensure compliance with these regulations.
ASV Vault incorporates state-of-the-art security features, including:
- Single sign-on (SSO) for passwordless authentication
- State-of-the-art cloud monitoring with machine-learning capabilities to locate anomalous behavior
- Immutable centralized logging
- Double 256 AES encryption (storage and bitlocker)
- Robust server and database backup
What is money laundering in the art world?
Money laundering is the “cleaning” of the proceeds of a crime (“dirty money”) by converting it into untraceable legal tender through an otherwise ordinary transaction. Art sales are a primary target for money laundering because pricing is generally opaque, participants can be cloaked in secrecy, paintings are easily transported, and the art market is still largely unregulated.
Why Is KYC/Due Diligence important for your business?
A business can suffer irreversible financial and reputational damage as a result of participating in the crime of money laundering – even unwittingly. Your bank accounts can be frozen and the profits from the sale can be seized. Knowing your customer is critically important for the art industry, not only for compliance purposes, but to protect yourself and your business from a basic risk management standpoint.
What AML regulations govern the art industry?
AML regulations for the art industry are in place in the EU, UK and elsewhere that impose KYC and reporting obligations. Similar regulations will soon be instituted in the United States. If you fail to incorporate basic due diligence into your sales process, you may be exposed to serious legal and economic ramifications.