Bremer case lays bare a relationship that goes back seven decades — but may have reached its limit
Nowhere else in America does a charity like Bremer Trust own a bank like Bremer Financial.
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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 Minnesota's No. 4 bank since 2016, rejected allegations that the company's 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.