Sotheby’s Fined $45 Million in Criminal Price-Fixing Case

A federal judge Friday accepted a guilty plea and imposed a $45-million fine on Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. in a criminal price-fixing case but deferred final approval of a $512-million class-action settlement for the auction house and its chief rival, Christie’s International.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan agreed to the $45-million fine proposed by both New York-based Sotheby’s and prosecutors, even though it fell below minimum federal sentencing guidelines, partly because Sotheby’s alone faced criminal charges in the case.

London-based Christie’s did not face criminal charges because it cooperated with a government investigation into a price-fixing scheme over commissions that clients were charged. The investigation reached the top echelons of the two art giants.

Sotheby’s said, “Today’s acceptance by the court . . . is welcomed by all of Sotheby’s employees . . . [and] is a very important step in putting this painful matter behind us.”

The judge also heard objections at the hearing to a proposed settlement that would resolve a class-action suit brought by more than 130,000 clients accusing Sotheby’s and Christie’s of colluding on commissions.

Most of those objecting, which included the J. Paul Getty Trust, focused either on claims over foreign auctions or the payment of $100 million of the $512-million settlement in the form of certificates, which clients can apply toward future auction commissions.

Kaplan said he would rule on the final approval of the settlement as quickly as possible.