ABN Amro, the third-largest Dutch bank, issued an apology on Wednesday for its predecessors’ involvement in the Atlantic slave trade during the 18th and 19th centuries. The bank worked with the International Institute of Social History to research the histories of two of the bank’s banks. predecessors, Hope & Co. and Mees & Zoonen. Researchers at the Institute found that Hope & Co.’s profits were inextricably linked to the slave trade, with between a quarter and a third of its annual income in the second half of the 18th century coming from slavery. Mees & Zoonen issued marine insurance, more than half of which related to slave shipments. The Institute’s report noted that the newly discovered connections between Hope & Co. and Mees & Zoonen and the slave trade reveal how deeply intertwined the companies’ finances were. with slavery “The findings shatter the notion that the reality of slavery was something that occurred far beyond the horizon of 18th-century investors and traders,” the report concluded. Senior researcher Dr Pepijn Brandon said: “Decisions made in the Amsterdam and Rotterdam offices directly affected the lives of thousands of enslaved people.” he acknowledged that “it also has a darker side.” He said the bank “apologizes for the past actions and activities of these predecessors and for the pain and suffering they caused.” ABN Amro is in ongoing dialogue with representatives of communities of descendants of enslaved peoples both to discuss the research findings and to develop ways to help improve those communities in the future.