In 1999, Martinique’s second-largest bank collapsed amid widespread disbelief. Founded in 1922 and nicknamed “the béké bank,” Crédit Martiniquais had, at the time of its downfall, nearly 60,000 personal accounts and 10,000 business accounts spread across Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Paris.

The bank had accumulated more than €220 million in debt and bad loans (1.5 billion French francs). Relative to the population, this was 6.5 times greater than the debt of Crédit Lyonnais, whose scandal marked the 1990s in mainland France.

This economic earthquake had nationwide repercussions, amplified by a press fascinated with the “Béké myth.” The French state was forced to intervene, guaranteeing customers’ deposits in order to avoid a social tsunami. The shockwaves were even felt within my own family.

I was 21 years old at the time, and this bank had been part of my life since birth.

As for my mother, after twenty-five years of loyal service as an executive at Crédit Martiniquais, she suddenly found herself unemployed.