Price-Fixing

Auction houses want disclaimer clause included before payment. Buyers and sellers given a January 5 compensation claim deadline as part of the class action in the Sotheby’s/Christie’s collusion case face a dilemma.

$45m fine for Sotheby’s but five years to pay: Diana ‘Dede’ Brooks, former president and chief executive of Sotheby’s, has pleaded guilty in a Manhattan Federal Court to price-fixing with Christie’s between 1993 and 1999.

Sotheby’s board of directors have approved payment of $256m to clients in the civil lawsuit which claimed collusion with Christie’s in setting charges for buyers in 1992 and sellers in 1995.

US: THE sudden resignations of Sotheby's chief executive Diana 'Dede' Brooks and chairman Alfred Taubman have come in the wake of the investigation into alleged commission fixing which has seen the company's stock plummet by 60 per cent since the start of this year.

UK: The UK Office of Fair Trading and the European Union regulatory body for competition have begun their own investigations into alleged commission fixing by Sotheby's and Christie's.