Which U.S. bank was central to the Panic of 1907 after a failed attempt to corner United Copper shares?

The Knickerbocker Trust Company was central to the Panic of 1907 after a failed attempt to corner United Copper shares. The attempted speculation was organized by broker F. Augustus Heinze and banker Charles W. Morse. When the scheme collapsed, depositors rushed to withdraw funds from Knickerbocker Trust, then one of New York’s largest trust companies.

The panic spread because trust companies held fewer immediately available reserves than commercial banks and lacked the same established access to emergency support. J. P. Morgan eventually coordinated private-sector assistance, helping stabilize banks and markets. The crisis also encouraged wider support for creating a central bank.

A common mix-up is naming J. P. Morgan as the institution that triggered the panic. Morgan was instead the leading financier who helped contain it. The Panic of 1907 is widely regarded as an important argument for establishing the Federal Reserve System in 1913.