In another sign of the art market’s decline and the financial pressures increasingly felt by auction houses, Christie’s reportedly won’t be setting up an art-investment fund and a lending division it was planning.

Instead of offering loans and other services as part of the larger company, the auction house was exploring ways to create a separate financial division. The aim was to compete more directly with Sotheby’s Financial Services, a subsidiary of Christie’s major rival. Christie’s had interviewed investment managers and bankers to see if there was any interest in an art-investment fund, and it was also working to establish a separate asset-management company aimed at raising $250–350 million. But as the global economic slump worsened, the idea was scrapped, employees involved in the project said. They added that Christie’s fired several executives in New York and London who were going to run the operation.  

Read more at Bloomberg.