Human collateral: British banking’s long-neglected connection with slavery in Brazil

Long after the abolition of slavery in the British colonies, a predecessor bank of today’s Lloyds Banking Group knowingly held enslaved Afro-Brazilians as security against its loans, sometimes even forcing their sale to settle debts. Contrary to popular belief, the case of London and Brazilian Bank shows that Britain’s involvement in slavery did not end in 1833; it simply took on different forms in different places, writes Joe Mulhern (Durham University).