The legal saga surrounding the African activities of the Bolloré Group has taken a new turn. The pan-African collective Restitution for Africa (RAF) , which had already sued billionaire Vincent Bolloré in March 2025, is now targeting financial institutions.

Summary proceedings have been initiated before the Paris Judicial Court to compel five major banks to open their archives: Morgan Stanley, Hottinguer, HSBC, Société Générale and Crédit Mutuel .

The objective: To shed light on the 5.7 billion euro sale

In 2022, Bolloré Africa Logistics was sold to the arms giant MSC for €5.7 billion . The RAF collective argues that the enormous profits from this sale are based on illegally acquired assets. Jean-Jacques Lumumba, president of the organization, describes the case as a case of "reverse ill-gotten gains."

With this new action, the lawyers for the group want to dissect the financial mechanisms of the transaction.

“Banks are not simply passive spectators. A multinational of this size doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Who provided the advice? Who structured the flows and valued the assets? These are the questions raised by this action.” — Vincent Bavay , lawyer for the RAF collective.

Did the banks turn a blind eye?

The heart of the debate lies in the obligation of "enhanced vigilance" to which investment and commercial banks are subject.

The group believes that these establishments should have reviewed their ties with the Bolloré group after the revelations of 2021:

1. February 2021: The Bolloré Group signs a Public Interest Agreement with the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF). In it, it acknowledges acts of corruption to obtain port concessions in Togo and Guinea, and is fined 12 million euros.
2. The current grievance: Continuing to support and finance the group on these same assets after this date constitutes, according to Mr. Bavay, "at a minimum a moral fault, and potentially a criminal fault" .

A fight for compensation for victims

The RAF collective brings together eleven NGOs spread across six African countries . Its ultimate goal remains the restitution of wealth derived from corruption.

1. RAF's position: Jean-Jacques Lumumba demands that the whole truth be revealed so that the thousands of victims of these practices can be compensated.
2. The defense's reaction: When contacted, Olivier Baratelli, the lawyer for Vincent Bolloré and his group, declined to comment.

The first hearings in this new banking case will be held next September at the Paris Judicial Court, while another key decision on the corruption case is expected in December.