Dutch ABN AMRO Bank Apologizes for Historic Links to Slavery

Dutch bank ABN AMRO apologized Wednesday for historic links to the slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the involvement of one of the bank’s predecessor institutions in “day-to-day business” of plantations.

The bank is the latest institution to apologize for historic ties to slavery, following the Bank of England in 2020 and the municipality of Amsterdam last year amid a global Black Lives Matter reckoning {snip}

ABN AMRO said in a statement that research it commissioned into its history and that of other banks that were its direct predecessors uncovered a dark side.

The bank said the research revealed that “ABN AMRO’s predecessor Hope & Co. played a pivotal role in the international slave economy of the 18th century. Not only were slavery-related operations a source of much of Hope & Co.’s profits, the firm was also actively involved in the day-to-day business of plantations.”

The plantations were in the Caribbean on Dutch colonies and other islands.

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