Some of France's top banking institutions and richest families are being asked to pay back thousands in compensation to victims of slavery, reports RFI.
French President François Hollande acknowledged France's role in the illicit trade but rejected calls for reparations. Paris marked the eighth edition of Remembrance Day on Saturday.
"It was the sweat of slaves that built the Bank of France, and it was the Bank of France that built France," declared Louis-Georges Tin, President of the Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN) on Saturday.
Speaking on May 10 – known as "Slavery Remembrance day" in France, Tin denounced the "crucial role" played by the banking industry in propping up slavery.
The CRAN didn't spare the Bank of France, Credit Suisse, Mallet and distinguished Bordelais families from scathing criticism, accusing them of profiteering off the backs of slaves.
The fresh criticisms come after a law-suit filed against state-owned bank Caisse des dépôts et de consignations (CDC), said to have reaped over 21 billion euros from slavery in its former colony Haiti between 1804 and 1946.
Read more of this report from RFI.