Albert Henry Wiggin Biography

Albert Henry Wiggin

Considered somewhat of a Wunderkind when he became youngest vice president ever at Chase National Bank at 36, he had already helped to organize the Banker's Trust Company (1903) and had been vice-president of the National Park Bank in New York City for five years. He climbed steadily in rank and influence, becoming president of Chase (1911); chairman (1917), then chairman of the governing board (1930), while serving on some 59 corporate boards. Under his reign, the Chase National Bank and its holdings, including the Mercantile Trust Company and the Chase Securities Corporation, grew significantly. A Congressional probe (1933) into the company's holdings revealed that Chase (among others) had skirted laws prohibiting banks from operating as a trust and from handling securities in doing so through its affiliates. Wiggin personally was found to have used his “official and fiduciary position for private profit,” leading to an out-of-court settlement of a stockholder suit.