ABN Amro, the third-largest Dutch bank, issued an apology Wednesday for its predecessors’ involvement in the Atlantic slave trade during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The bank worked with the International Institute of Social History to investigate the histories of two of the bank’s predecessors, Hope & Co. and Mees & Zoonen. Researchers with the Institute found that Hope & Co.’s profits were inextricably linked to the slave trade, with between one quarter and one-third of their annual revenues in the latter half of the eighteenth century derived from slavery. Mees & Zoonen issued maritime insurances, more than half of which related to shipments of slaves.

The Institute’s report noted that the newly discovered connections between Hope & Co. and Mees & Zoonen and the slave trade reveal just 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 eighteenth-century investors and traders,” the report concluded. Senior Researcher Dr. Pepijn Brandon said, “Decisions made in offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam directly impacted the lives of thousands of enslaved persons.”

CEO of ABN Amro Robert Swaak said the bank had a “proud history” going back over 300 years, but acknowledged that “it has a darker side as well.” He said the bank “apologizes for the past actions and activities of these predecessors and for the pain and suffering that they caused.” ABN Amro is in an 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 going forward.