Compliance and provenance policy

Freeports elsewhere have been criticised for secrecy. Africa Freeport is built to be the opposite: a transparent freeport. This policy applies to every client, every work and every service we provide or coordinate, including storage in partner facilities.

Our status

Africa Freeport is in development. We are not yet a licensed freeport, free-zone operator or bonded warehouse. Storage is currently provided through vetted partner facilities. We will update this page when licences are granted.

1. Know your client (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML)

• We verify the identity of every storage client and of anyone acting on their behalf.
• For companies, trusts and foundations, we identify the ultimate beneficial owners.
• For high-value deposits, we ask about and verify source of funds and source of wealth.
• We screen clients against sanctions and politically-exposed-person lists, and repeat checks periodically.
• We use specialist identity-verification providers and keep records as the law requires.
• We will decline or end any relationship where checks are incomplete or raise concerns, and we report suspicious activity to the competent authorities as required by law.

2. Provenance due diligence

• We do not accept works without an adequate ownership history.
• We check works against stolen-art databases, such as the Art Loss Register and INTERPOL’s Stolen Works of Art database, before accepting them into storage.
• We record provenance, supporting documents and condition for every work in the Vault.
• Where a claim is made against a work in our care, we cooperate with claimants and authorities.

3. Cultural heritage

• We do not accept looted, stolen or illicitly exported cultural heritage objects.
• We align our practice with the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, and with national export rules.
• For archaeological, ethnographic and heritage objects we require evidence of lawful export from the country of origin.
• We aim to be a partner to museums, communities and restitution efforts, never a hiding place.

4. Partners

Storage, shipping, insurance and conservation partners are vetted before we work with them and are expected to apply standards consistent with this policy.

Contact

Questions or concerns about a work or a client? Write to [email protected]. Reports are handled confidentially.