The New York City branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. collapsed following widespread embezzlement, leading to a severe recession that caused about 5,000 businesses to fail.

The Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company was a banking institution based in Cincinnati, Ohio, which existed from 1830 to 1857. The Panic of 1857, an economic depression, resulted after the company's New York City offices ceased operations due to bad investments, especially in agriculture-related businesses. During the Crimean War (1853-1856), much of Europe's farm labor was engaged in the military, resulting in Europe becoming dependent on American crops for food. At the conclusion of the war, European farm production resumed and American agricultural exports declined, causing a drop in value of American foodstuffs. Because of the telegraph, word of the office closure spread quickly and many investors, already shaky over declining markets, caused a financial panic. The markets would not recover until two years later.

Embezzlement is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking advantage of their position to steal funds or assets, most commonly over a period of time.

The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. Morse in 1844, the Panic of 1857 was the first financial crisis to spread rapidly throughout the United States. The world economy was more interconnected by the 1850s, which made the Panic of 1857 the first worldwide economic crisis. In Britain, the Palmerston government circumvented the requirements of the Bank Charter Act 1844, which required gold and silver reserves to back up the amount of money in circulation. Surfacing news of this circumvention set off the Panic in Britain.