Agreement.[1] In response, the Compliance Counsel alerted Mr. Omelnitski that "we need to talk and review the approach to client due diligence."[2]
The Compliance Counsel asked Mr. Omelnitski to "clarify the relationship between BALTZER and Markom" on October 20, 2017.[3] She raised the fact that "BALTZER is both a client who outsources client due diligence and compliance to Markom Group as well as a related entity due to Markom Group being a director/shareholder."[4] She also addressed the issue of Mr. Baltser's clients and suggested that "the Compliance Department is able to keep the identity of clients securely within a private and confidential file that is not accessible by anyone other than Compliance/Legal."[5] The Compliance Counsel asserted the information would "be provided solely to me in order to enable Christie's to comply with our KYC procedures and relied on solely for this purpose."[6] She explained to the Subcommittee that she never received answers to her questions about the Markom Group's relationship to Mr. Baltser's companies.[7]
2018. The parties negotiated the terms of a new agreement, which was signed on March 19, 2018.[8] The new agreement contained additional requirements, which the former Global Head of Compliance explained gave Christie's additional control and comfort regarding purchases by BALTZER.[9] For purposes of customer due diligence, the new agreement required that, "For all successful bidders, BALTZER will make the customer due diligence documentation (including any originals) promptly available to Christie's for inspection within 10 working days after the auction and in any event, prior to the release of the relevant lot."[10] The new terms also stated that "BALTZER warrants on a continuing basis while this agreement remains in force that:
- any bid on behalf of its Members does not facilitate tax evasion or tax fraud;
- any bid on behalf of its Members does not violate or facilitate a violation of sanctions including those administered or enforced by the US Department of Treasury's OFAC, US Department of State, the UN Security Council, the EU, Her Majesty's Treasury or the Hong Kong Monetary Authority;
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