Public Auction Sales in France
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Public auction sales in France 2012 Activity Report Conseil des ventes volontaires de meubles aux enchères publiques Public auction sales in France 2012 Activity Report Conseil des ventes volontaires de meubles aux enchères publiques Sommaire Rapport d'activité 2012 Avant-propos .......................................................................... 4 Introduction Présentation du Conseil .............................................................. 9 Membres et secrétaire général du Conseil .................................. 14 Organigramme des services er au 1 janvier 2012 ..................................................................... 16 Chapitre 1 La régulation du marché en 2012 L'accès des acteurs au marché .................................................. 20 Le contrôle de l’activité des acteurs sur le marché ........................................................................... 26 La formation ............................................................................ 70 Le Conseil : acteur de la concertation et force de proposition .................................................................. 73 Chapitre 2 Le bilan économique 2012 des ventes volontaires aux enchères publiques Méthodologie ............................................................................ 80 Les ventes volontaires aux enchères publiques en France .................................................................................. 88 Les ventes aux enchères sur le secteur « Art et objets de collection » dans le monde en 2012 ................. 148 Chapitre 3 Le cadre juridique : droit et déontologie Droit et déontologie des ventes aux enchères ........................... 193 Recueil des obligations déontologiques ................................... 198 Chapitre 4 Présentation des comptes 2012 du Conseil des ventes Présentation .......................................................................... 233 Rapport du commissaire aux comptes ..................................... 240 AVANT-prOPOS DE la prÉsiDENTE two topics stand out, and both involved an in-depth examination in consultation with the auction profession : . the first was the need to renovate the training given to certified After a year 2011 marked by substantial modifications in French auctioneers. In the context of the opening of the auction market, the legislation – with the reform of 20 July 2011, the consultation process 2011 reform introduced the obligation to elaborate a mandatory, to elaborate its Application Decree and the preparatory work for the common and « integrated » training for the different professions linked adoption and ministerial approval of a new Code of Deontology for to the auction market : certified voluntary and judicial auctioneers, the auction profession – 2012 was essentially a year of implementation. sworn merchandise brokers, and, on an ancillary basis, solicitors, In 2012, the Conseil des Ventes Volontaires (CVV) 2012 was highly notaries and bailiffs. Looking beyond this legal requirement, the active on all fronts : internal development, contacts with the newly CVV decided to look into ways of adapting the training for certified created departments of public authorities, and further dialogue auctioneers to the auction market’s evolution in the current context of with auction professionals, particularly in the framework of three increasing international competition. The CVV’s proposals regarding decentralised projects (Nantes, Lille and Toulouse) to assess the impact the level of education (bac + 3) and the contents of the training are of the market’s evolution at the local level. expected to be adopted during 2013. This eleventh annual activity report, which it is my pleasure to present, is that of a supervisory authority for an insufficiently known sector – . the second, in line with 2011 reform, involved the identification and the voluntary auctions sector – in which transparency, legal security enumeration of sound professional practices that the CVV initiated in and the quality of the services offered must be fully guaranteed. The 2012 and which is also due to be finalised in 2013. The CVV primary CVV seeks to achieve this goal in the framework of a set of clearly objective with the Code of Deontology is to create a pragmatic tool redefined legal and economic missions and in accordance with the based on shared knowledge and expertise. As an operating tool for procedural methodologies described in its internal regulations that auction professionals, the Code will be published on the CVV’s brand were completely revised in December 2012. new website and will be amended as and when is necessary. At the regulatory level, the CVV tackled a wide variety of issues during Lastly, but by no means the least of its tasks, the CVV has been busy the year, but I shall mention only the most important in this forward. in its auction sector oversight role and in the compilation of its annual In the first place, the CVV had to adapt its new intervention framework activity report summarising the auction market’s key developments. from a system of pre-activity licensing of auction operators (and its At an economic level, the figures for 2012 are different in several areas corresponding administrative control) to a declarative system with from the figures for the previous year. post-activity controls in the framework of its disciplinary powers. Secondly, the CVV needed to conduct a thorough analysis of certain The auction market in France in 2012 showed good resilience despite legal innovations whose interpretation could possibly generate the generally lacklustre economic context. Total auction turnover problems (the inclusion of private sales; the contributions base of the was up 1,9 % vs. 2011 reaching a new historical peak of 2.42 billion CVV’s financing; the future of auction operators’ existing auditing euro. The growth rate was however substantially slower than in 2011 mandates, etc.) (+8,6 %), and the three major sectors that contributed to it posted At the same time, the CVV had to make decisions regarding the contrasting results : While the « Art & Collectibles » sector contracted lawfulness of certain media-publicised atypical sales involving contents 1.8 %, the « Horses » sector remained flat and the « Used Vehicles & that could be regarded as disrespectful of certain people’s beliefs or Industrial Equipment » sector progressed + 6.5 %. Indeed the relative sensibilities. progressions of the different sectors produced a symbolically interesting In an equally media-focused issue, the CVV made efforts to enforce result : The two largest auction operators by turnover (i.e. total amount the distinction between auction sales and online brokerage, and, by adjudicated, excluding fees) are now both operators in the Used Vehicles reminding operators of its new powers under the recently introduced & Industrial Equipment sector, having overtaken the two main global- legislation, to eliminate the confusion entertained by certain companies ly-dominant players in the Art & Collectibles sector, Christie’s and in the non-regulated sector. In the framework of the CVV’s above-mentioned legal activity in 2012, 4 5 Sotheby’s. In 2012, close to 50 % of the total turnover generated by the and transparent manner, the integrity of its auction sales. In an increa- auction sector in France was generated outside of the Art & Collec- singly deregulated competitive environment, it is by ensuring quality tibles sector. These figures belie the media’s frequent assimilation of the of service to buyers and sellers that auction operators will strengthen auction market with its Art & Collectibles sector, an idea that ignores their positions and consolidate their advantages. These include clearly the reality of the public auction sector in France. established sale agreements, accurate descriptions of the goods being Beyond these general trends, the CVV observed a number of underlying offered for sale with provenance and origin guarantees, complete dynamics : further concentration of activity around a small number control over operations, security of the financial transactions for sellers, of operators (63 % of total turnover in the French auction market is transparency in determining hammer prices, respect of obligations generated by the 20 largest voluntary sales operators) particularly in the regarding the obligation to declare suspicions of money laundering, Used Vehicles & Industrial Equipment sector; market duality within monitoring of bids and online payment. the Arts & Collectibles sector with, on one side, several auctioneers, For its part, the Conseil des Ventes will continue to support auction mainly Parisian, driving the sales figures, and on the other, a large operators by ensuring that the commercially attractive concept of majority of operators whose turnover figures have remained generally auction sales not be exploited abusively. In its mission to formulate stable, but whose commercial profitability is eroding. The economic legal and regulatory recommendations to government, it will highlight situations of a large number of operators therefore remain fragile and the importance of a clarification of the legal framework. the sector could severely impacted by a sharp contraction in market The future of the regulated auction sector cannot be considered a activity. In this context, it is more than ever important to remember foregone conclusion. It depends primarily on the auction companies the contribution that operators make to the vitality of local economic