February 19, 2019
Publication: The Media Line
Kobre & Kim attorney Beau Barnes evaluates the use of Iran’s art market to export art and find profit without facing U.S. sanctions and financial penalties in a discussion with the independent Middle East-focused news agency The Media Line. Drawing on his expertise in economic sanctions and regulatory enforcement, Beau discusses the viability of exporting art as a source of income to avoid U.S. enforced sanctions.
While cultural products – also referred to as “informational materials” by the U.S. Department of the Treasury – are excluded from international sanctions, Barnes notes that “the exception is narrowly defined and none of those countries have been able to prop up their economies by exporting art or literature. And any transactions would require Iranian sellers to find both [purchasers] and financial intermediaries willing to process those payments.”