LONDON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Most clients of Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses have yet to receive compensation from the collusion case brought two years ago.
The Art Newspaper reported Tuesday Sotheby's and Christie's were ordered to pay $512 million in settlement of a class action suit brought by clients who lost money due the two house's collusion on setting auction fees. In the place of immediate monetary compensation, the houses have issued certificates to clients fully redeemable against commission and various fees on May 31, 2008.
The report quoted Bill Ruprecht, Sotheby's chief executive officer, as saying only about $2 million in certificates have been turned in to the auction house so far, and Christie's also reported a "relatively low" turn-in rate.
The Art Newspaper said certificate recipients are believed to be discounting the certificates to various clearinghouses such as Chicago Clearing Corp. in the United States.
"So perhaps clients and the clearing houses are saving them to cash in in 2008," the newspaper concluded.
