J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are among 18 corporate defendants named in a slave-reparations case that began Wednesday in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
The case is a consolidation of nine cases filed by African-Americans across the United States in 2002. Among the other defendants are Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Aetna Inc, New York Life Insurance Co. and Lloyds TSB Group.
Prior to 1865, when slavery was abolished, predecessor companies of J.P. Morgan, Bank of America and of other banks extended loans to slave- owners using slaves as collateral for the loans, the consolidated lawsuit alleges.