Page 5 - Brian Lipschultz News Today

Nowhere else in America does a charity like Bremer Trust own a bank like Bremer Financial.

But for months in 2019, bank executives and leaders of the trust that owns the bank appeared to be on the same page.

Jeanne Crain, who has led Minnesotas No. 4 bank since 2016, rejected allegations that the companys conflict with trustees shaped by her job and finances.

In early 2019, Bremer Bank leaders held talks with South Dakota-based Great Western Bank and planned for the combined firm to take the Bremer name.

Through summer 2019, Otto Bremer Trust trustee Brian Lipschultz tried to attract buyers for Bremer Financial and do it in a way a skeptical trustee could accept.

Around the Twin Cities, executives and board members at for-profit and nonprofits alike for years marveled and muttered over the audacious makeover of one of Minnesotas largest charities.

Junior Achievement North recently decided to return a $1.2 million grant from Otto Bremer Trust after being asked to support trustees in their legal battle with the state and Bremer Financial.

BMO Harris made a non-binding offer for Bremer in August 2019. Trustees also discussed a possible sale with Old National Bank and Huntington Bancshares.

In opening salvos, state attorneys say Bremer trustees put themselves over the charity they lead. Their attorney says their attempt to sell Bremer Financial to benefit the charity is "reasonable."

The decision to remove Otto Bremer Trust trustees Brian Lipschultz and Daniel Reardon follows months of legal fighting over the fate of the Bremer Financial Corp. and its major asset, St. Paul-based Bremer Bank, a $13 billion financial institution and one of Minnesota’s largest farm lenders.