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Issue #22  11/15/2000
 
And The Beat Goes On: More Suits For Sotheby's and Christie's

The New York Times reports that Sotheby’s and Christie’s are facing yet another lawsuit. This one was filed October 31 on behalf of customers of the houses and contends that several executives of both firms, including Max M. Fisher, the former vice chairman of Sotheby's, and Daniel P. Davison, who served as chairman of Christie's (US) from 1989-93, were aware of the collusion to fix premiums and made no effort to stop it. Sotheby's denied these latest charges and Christie's has refused to comment.

Also named in the NY Times article were Christie's board vice chairman Christopher Burge, Stephen S. Lash and Francois Curiel and former employee Patricia Hambrecht, as well as Sotheby's former president and chief executive Michael L. Ainslie and former executive vice president and COO Kevin A. Bousquette.

This is starting to sound like the U.S. elections. It just won’t go away.