A UK private bank praised by Boris Johnson is facing scrutiny over its historical links to the slave trade after two other big British businesses pledged to pay reparations for their role.
Alfred Latham and John Alves Arbuthnot co-founded Arbuthnot Latham in 1833, a private bank in the City of London that specialises in managing money for the wealthy.
When slavery was abolished in parts of the British empire earlier the same year, Latham was compensated for giving up ownership of 402 enslaved people, according to an academic database tracking British involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. He received £3,873, roughly equivalent to £370,000 in 2020 terms.
The Arbuthnot family is also on the database, compiled by the University College London’s Legacies of British slave ownership project. Latham went on to become governor of the Bank of England.
Arbuthnot Latham is now run by the chairman and chief executive Sir Henry Angest, who has donated millions of pounds to the Conservative party personally or through his companies.
In 2013, when he was the mayor of London, Johnson wrote that he had “no hesitation” in recommending a history of the bank.
In a foreword published on the bank’s website, Johnson was fulsome in his praise for the bank.
He wrote: “The story of London’s rise to global eminence is in many ways the story of Arbuthnot Latham – a bank founded in 1833, and which financed everything from coffee plantations in Ceylon to gold mining in South Africa to banana growers in Jamaica.”
He added: “I am delighted to say that 180 years later, the bank is not only alive but flourishing, proof of the resilience of financial services in London. We will always need bankers with drive and imagination – not just to finance banana growing, but the infrastructure we need, the medical and scientific breakthroughs that will improve the fate of our species.”
Two other companies with links to slavery highlighted by the UCL database on Wednesday pledged to pay reparations for the role played by former slave owners in their past.
The pubs group Greene King and insurer Lloyd’s of London said they would make contributions to charities . Their intention to pay reparations was first reported by the Daily Telegraph.
Greene King was founded in 1799 by Benjamin Greene in Bury St Edmunds. The UCL data shows he held at least 231 people in slavery and was an enthusiastic supporter of the practice.
He was given the equivalent of about £500,000 in today’s money when he surrendered rights to plantations in Montserrat and St Kitts in the Caribbean.
Nick Mackenzie, Greene King’s current chief executive, said the brewer would offer financial reparations: “It is inexcusable that one of our founders profited from slavery and argued against its abolition in the 1800s.”
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market, which dates to 1686, said it would provide “financial support to charities and organisations promoting opportunity and inclusion for black and minority ethnic groups” and “invest in positive programmes to attract, retain and develop black and minority ethnic talent.”
The UCL records show that Simon Fraser, a founder member of Lloyd’s, held at least 162 people in slavery. He was paid the equivalent of nearly £400,000 at today’s rate for ceding a plantation in Dominica.
A spokesman for Lloyd’s said: “We are sorry for the role played by the Lloyd’s market in the 18th- and 19th-century slave trade. This was an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own, and we condemn the indefensible wrongdoing that occurred during this period.”
Arbuthnot Latham declined to comment on whether it would also consider paying reparations in relation to its history. A spokesman for the bank said: “Arbuthnot Latham stands against racism and discrimination in all forms, and is committed to diversity across the bank.”
The bank’s predecessor company also backed Gold Fields of South Africa run by Cecil Rhodes, the imperialist whose statue at Oriel College, Oxford University, has been a focus of anti-racism protests. The college on Wednesday voted to remove the statue.
Other banks with historial links to the slave trade include Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group.
Business groups urged companies to examine their historic links to slavery, following the increased scrutiny prompted by recent Black Lives Matter protests and campaigns to remove statues of slave owners and imperialists.
Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director at the Confederation of British Industry, said: “Companies with a history of benefitting from slavery should carefully consider how they address their past. Acknowledging and learning from previous wrongdoing is vital for organisations to take the right steps in future.”
He added: “Creating real change must start now. As business leaders, it is our collective responsibility to recognise, condemn and eradicate racism in all its forms.
A spokesman for the Institute of Directors said: “This feels like a significant moment Businesses are reflecting on these issues in a deeper way than was common previously. It is the role and responsibility of directors to think about their company’s relationship with the community around them and it’s right that they should consider acting now.”
The CBI also said that companies should focus on increasing boardroom representation of black and ethnic minority workers and making sure that future policy challenges ethnic inequalities.