Tracing is the means by which a person who has been wrongly deprived of a thing attempts to identify and follow that thing, or its substitute in value, into the hands of other persons to whom the thing or the value of the thing has passed. Once the value of the thing has been identified in the hands of the potential defendant, the plaintiff is in a position to bring a common law action for wrongful interference with his assets and/or make a claim in restitution in respect of those assets. Tracing can be either common law or equitable. Common law tracing: (1) does not require fiduciary relationship; (2) is not a cause of action; (3) requires a tangible asset; (4) requires the original asset or its value to remain identifiable from other assets of the defendant and be distinguishable as the plaintiff's property; and (5) is not defeated by the intervention of a bona fide purchaser for value. In equitable tracing, fiduciary relationship is required and mixing funds is no bar. Criminals are increasingly using art and antiques trades to launder the proceeds of their crimes. References