News & Press Releases

Recent News

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: MN Supreme Court upholds ruling removing Lipschultz from Otto Bremer Trust
February 7, 2024
The Minnesota Supreme Court has upheld a Ramsey County District Court judge’s earlier ruling removing Brian Lipschultz from the Otto Bremer Trust. On Wednesday the state Supreme Court upheld both previous decisions in a 26-page opinion, noting that the courts have the right to remove trustees of charitable trusts as a result of a “serious breach of trust,” even if they “involve a series of smaller breaches, none of which alone would justify removal, but which do justify removal when considered together.” You can read the full article here. 

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Bremer Bank lawsuit against Otto Bremer Trust leadership reopens
October 6, 2023
The lawsuit filed by officials with Bremer Bank and Bremer Financial Corporation against the Otto Bremer Trust has resumed. Nearly four years ago, officials with the bank filed suit against the trust, the philanthropy that oversees them, arguing that its three trustees attempted to enrich themselves by ousting the membership of their corporate board and replacing them with hostile investors. You can read the full article here.

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Minnesota Court of Appeals rejects bid to reinstate Brian Lipschultz on Otto Bremer Trust
January 17, 2023
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has rejected an effort by Brian Lipschultz, a former trustee with the embattled Otto Bremer Trust, to regain his seat with one of the state’s oldest philanthropies, a parent company to Bremer Bank. “Lipschultz’s persistent improprieties support the district court’s determination that his removal serves the best interests of the beneficiaries and the Trust,” reads the decision issued Tuesday by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. “Lipschultz continually breached his duties to the Trust’s beneficiaries.” You can read the full article here. 

From the Star Tribune: Schafer: Otto Bremer trustees ripped out the brakes, hit the gas and crashed
October 9, 2021
Seven years ago, the three trustees now fighting to keep their jobs started chipping away at the oversight that produced excellence at the Otto Bremer Trust. They’d chosen to be the managers of the foundation, not the overseers. There’s no oversight now. There’s no one to hold them accountable. It’s bad governance of breathtaking proportions. You can read the full column here. 

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Junior Achievement returned grant after Bremer Trust browbeating, CEO testifies
October 6, 2021
Taking the witness stand in Ramsey County District Court on Wednesday, a nonprofit leader was driven to tears as she described how a major donor attempted to lay a heavy hand on day-to-day operations. When Sara Dziuk, the chief executive officer of Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, got Brian Lipschultz on the phone last month, she recalled he was openly furious — though he stopped short of demanding back $1.2 million in grant funding. You can read the full article here.

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Attorney General’s effort to unseat Otto Bremer Trust trustees plays out in court room
October 1, 2021
When the board of the Bremer Financial Corporation decided against selling Bremer Bank, the trustees of its philanthropic parent — the Otto Bremer Trust — decided to move forward anyway. The Minnesota Attorney General’s office maintains that in August 2019, Trustees Brian Lipschultz and Daniel Reardon skipped key legal and financial safeguards and hurriedly set in motion the sale of 725,000 shares of Bremer Financial to 19 hedge funds controlled by 11 banks. Until the state stepped in, the trustees embarked on the first step toward a hostile board takeover and bank sale, with the goal of making themselves millionaires. You can read the full article here.

From the Star Tribune: Charitable grants to Ordway, Blake School and Como Zoo questioned in Otto Bremer Trust trial
September 30, 2021
Carol Washington, the assistant state attorney general prosecuting the case, says the trustees “gradually shifted” the trust from serving the public interest to their own. In some cases, she said the trustees used a different process to approve grants where they often had personal connections such as serving on the boards of recipient organizations. You can read the full article here.

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press: Bremer Foundation hearing: Executive assistant testifies she was directed to ship products for a trustee’s side business
September 29, 2021
An executive assistant at the Otto Bremer Trust recalled routinely faxing, filing and shipping packages for Eagle Street Partners, a side business run by trust principal Brian Lipschultz, using her own credit card to pay for costs. That wasn’t the only time staffers became aware of apparent “self-dealing,” the crux of allegations raised against the trustees of the St. Paul-based Otto Bremer Trust by the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, which regulates charities. You can read the full article here.

Archived News

From the Star Tribune: What is Bremer Financial worth? Well, it’s complicated
June 19, 2020
The latest annual tax form called the 990 for the Otto Bremer Trust is now on the St. Paul foundation’s website, and very deep in the document is a curious update to its 2018 filing. In the 2018 tax return, the fair market value of the foundation’s 90% or so stake in Bremer Financial Corp. was stated at not quite $900 million. A year later the trust’s stake in Bremer had shot to a fair market value of $1.8 billion. One of those numbers had to be very wrong. Read the full article here.

From American Banker: Bremer Bank says it’s not for sale. Its biggest investor begs to differ
February 28, 2020
“I think we’re on the right side of this,” Jeanne Crain, Bremer Financial’s CEO since 2016, said in an interview. “We’re protecting the independence of this organization as our founder intended. I don’t see anything in the industry to say that we should go away.” Read the full article here.

From the Star Tribune: Bremer’s profit rose 7% in 2019, and it gave $80M to the trust it’s fighting
February 5, 2020
“Bremer Financial, parent company of Bremer Bank, said 2019 earnings rose 7% to $156 million. The St. Paul-based company, owned by a foundation and its employees, said dividend payout to shareholders rose nearly 15% to $87.6 million, including $80.6 million to the Otto Bremer Trust. ‘These results are a testament to our continued solid financial performance across our businesses,’ CEO Jeanne Crain said in a statement. ‘We’re looking forward to amplifying our work on the strategies and investments that made 2019 such a success, including our work on digital capabilities to better serve our customers.’” Read the full article here. 

Attorney General Ellison’s office opens investigation into Otto Bremer Trust
January 13, 2020
We welcome the attorney general’s involvement and the opportunity to cooperate in the office’s investigation. We remain focused on serving our customers, employees and communities with the same heartfelt determination that Otto Bremer instilled in our company when he established it in 1943. You can read a press release from Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office here.

Former Bremer Executives Support BFC in Letter to the Editor
January 6, 2020
Recently, three former executives with over 130 cumulative years of service in Otto Bremer Banks wrote a letter to the editor for publication in the Duluth News Tribune supporting the continuation of Bremer. They believe the customers in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin are better served by the current structure. You can read the full letter to the editor here.

Statements & Press Releases

February 22, 2021 – Bremer Financial Corporation Board of Directors will not renominate Otto Bremer Trust Trustees for election to BFC Board

June 15, 2020 – Bremer Financial Corporation’s Statement – The trustees’ allegations are false and legally improper, and cannot change the pattern of self-interested transactions at issue in the lawsuit. It is abhorrent that the trustees now appear to be relying on the pandemic and the devastating loss of George Floyd’s life to support their baseless claims, and it is unfortunate that they continue to rely on intimidation to further their arguments. The trustees’ claims are inconsistent with the evidence in the lawsuit and will not withstand scrutiny. Bremer Bank was not for sale last October, and it is not for sale today.

Bremer was founded in 1943 and the trust was established the next year for the express purpose of ensuring that as long as the bank existed, the communities it served would benefit from its success. We are proud of that success and the impact Bremer Financial Corporation has had on our communities for more than 75 years through the trust’s charitable works. Since 1989, Bremer has distributed over $800 million to the trust, including over $80 million in 2019 alone.

Bremer’s financial results and market position remain strong. We remain focused on serving our customers and communities throughout the Upper Midwest through these extraordinary and challenging times, including making nearly $1.5 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans to organizations throughout our footprint, helping to protect the paychecks of more than 170,000 people.

November 19, 2019 – Bremer Financial files lawsuit, asserts Otto Bremer Trust actions are invalid