[2] In the difficult economic climate of 2009, some banks previously offering such services discontinued them.
[3] In contrast, some start-up art financiers have stepped into the vacuum created by the departing banks, such as former corporate raider Asher Edelman, who founded ArtAssure Ltd. in 2010 to provide liquidity to the art market in the form of non-recourse art loans and unique and legally-untested methods of auction guarantees.
[6] In late July 2009, The New York Times reported that the art finance firm Art Capital Group sued photographer Annie Leibovitz in the New York State Supreme Court for non-payment on a $24 million loan, seeking damages through access to her home, negatives, and all her intellectual property rights in her photographs.
[7][8] In March, 2010, Colony Capital concluded a new financing and marketing agreement with Leibovitz, paying off Art Capital and removing or reducing the risks of Leibovitz losing her artistic and real estate assets.
[10] Iain Robertson of Sotheby's Institute wrote "the art market's often covert and secretive buying and selling practices do encourage or at least permit high levels of criminal behavior.