Brazilian financial institutions

Maintaining the social structure in the face of the permanence of the slavery past

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the impact of the Brazilian structure in maintaining structural racism in Brazil, focusing on the formation of one of its components: financial institutions. Following the public acknowledgment by Banco do Brasil in 2023 of its converging role in channeling financial capital derived from the Brazilian slave economy until the abolition in the 19th century, the article investigates how this institution contributed to the country's economic transition. The research is based on historical documents submitted to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, which demonstrate the involvement of shareholders and founders of Banco do Brasil in the trafficking of enslaved people. The study reveals that the exploitation of enslaved labor was fundamental to the initial capital consolidation of the institution, and that, to this day, the Black population remains excluded from full access to financial opportunities. It concludes that Banco do Brasil exemplifies the perpetuation of structural inequalities inherited from the slave period and discusses the need for reparations and public policies aimed at the economic emancipation of the Black population.