CASE D'ASTA
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AUCTION HOUSES: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED ANTI-COMPETITIVE ARRANGEMENT
Proceedings begun against the Italian subsidiary of Christie’s International S.A., Sotheby’s Italia S.r.l. and the National Association of Auction Houses following a report from the Guardia di Finanza's Special Branch
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 2 October 2008, decided to open an investigation to determine whether certain conduct by the Italian subsidiary of Christie’s International S.A., Sotheby’s Italia S.r.l. and the A.N.C.A. (Associazione Nazionale delle Case d’Asta or National Association of Auction Houses) constitutes an anti-competitive arrangement in the Italian market for sale at auction of items of ordinary value.
The proceedings were prompted by a report from the Special Branch of the Guardia di Finanza (Fiscal Police) relating to allegedly anti-competitive conduct in the business of sale at auction of items and artworks of ordinary value. The report seems to show that the commission rates fixed by Christie’s Italia and Sotheby’s Italia for the seller and the buyer are the result of coordinated commercial strategies. The Guardia di Finanza also thinks there is evidence of possible agreements of a more general nature (especially as regards the commission applied to the seller), involving a number of industry operators, all of whom belong to A.N.C.A. This association may have had a coordinating role in the conduct of its members with respect to the commissions charged to sellers in the case of a sale.
The firms involved were today notified of the launch of the investigation during the course of a number of inspections carried out in collaboration with the Guardia di Finanza. It must be completed by 12 November 2009.
Rome, 9 October 2008