New York: The antiquities trade, which regulators have long feared provided fertile ground for money laundering and other illicit activities, will be subject to greater oversight under legislation passed by Congress on Friday when it overrode President Donald Trump's veto.
The provisions tightening scrutiny of the antiquities market were contained within the sprawling National Defense Authorization Act, which Trump vetoed last week and which the House and Senate voted to override on Monday and on Friday.
Regulators have long worried that the opacity of the antiquities trade, where buyers and sellers are seldom identified, even to the parties in a transaction, made it an easy way to shroud illicit transfers of money. The new legislation empowers federal regulators to design measures that would remove secrecy from transactions.