When it was set up in 1694 , it underpinned the whole system of commercial credit .
Its wealthy City members , from the governor down , were often men whose fortunes had been made wholly or partly in the slave trade .
When it was set up in 1694 , it underpinned the whole system of commercial credit , and its wealthy City members , from the governor down , were often men whose fortunes had been made wholly or partly in the slave trade .