France's Ministry of Economics and Finance, via its financial intelligence unit Tracfin, has published the first issue of its new online “Focus Tracfin” series, dedicated to illicit financial activity in the art sector. The publication sets out why art market transactions can be used for money laundering and terrorist financing and provides typologies and red flags intended to support detection and reporting. Tracfin reports a sharp rise in suspicious transaction reports linked to the art market, reaching 1,109 reports in 2024, up 35% on 2023, with the trend continuing in 2025. It highlights structural vulnerabilities including international trading, subjective and volatile valuations, multiple intermediaries, portability and storability of works, and sector confidentiality, and reiterates that relevant professionals are subject to France’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework (LCB-FT), including controls and timely filing of substantiated declarations of suspicion to Tracfin via the ERMES secure platform, with sanctions possible for non-compliance. The paper groups Tracfin’s main case typologies into tax fraud, abuse of corporate assets, scams, money laundering, and terrorist financing through looted antiquities, and illustrates six case studies, including an African art scam involving aggravated laundering with estimated losses of EUR 600,000 and a potential disguised donation involving an EUR 8 million transfer and inconsistent valuation. The “Focus Tracfin” series is intended to be published quarterly and will be available online only on Tracfin’s dedicated space.

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