HB 1028 May Affect Top DC Hostess’s Sioux Falls Company

Last updated on 2021-10-07

Following up on my Monday post about House Bill 1028, I learn from the Division of Banking that they are aware of just one company that would be affected by HB 1028‘s Section 2 requirement that entities seeking exemption from South Dakota’s trust laws must not use “trust” in their name: Coopersmith Trust Protector, LLC.

Coopersmith Trust Protector resides in a drawer at the 201 South Phillips Avenue, the Sioux Falls office of South Dakota Trust Company LLC, our own Bermuda on the prairie for one-percenters looking to keep their 40%. It was organized by Esther Coopersmith, who lives in a $6.5-million home at 2230 S Street NW, Washington, DC, just a mile and a half north and west of the White House.

Esther Coopersmith is rich and politically famous:

Mrs Esther Coopersmith was the United States Representative to the United Nations between 1979 and 1980 during the administration of President Carter. Between 1981 and 1993, during the administration of President Reagan, she served as Advisor to the U.S. Commission to the United Nations Status of Women Commission in Vienna, Austria. During the same administration, in 1985 Mrs Coopersmith was a delegate at the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women in Nairobi, Kenya and in 1987 she served as a member of the President’s Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries. During the administration of President Clinton she was the President’s Observer to UNESCO, between 1999-2000.

Mrs Coopersmith also took part as a delegate in the World Conference on Higher Education at UNESCO HQ in 2009. Mrs Coopersmith has undertaken various initiatives for the rapprochement of cultures in areas like the Middle East, the Soviet Union and Russia, Thailand and India. For her services Mrs Coopersmith has received numerous titles and medals such as: the United Nations Peace Prize in 1984, the Peace Award from the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland in 1987 (first recipient), a special commendation by the government of Israel in 1988, the Humanitarian Award by the Government of Armenia in 1991, the Decree of Appreciation for Humanitarian Assistance by the Government of Russia in 1992, a Decoration by the Government of Thailand in 2006 and the United Nations Education & Science Organization Award in 2008 [UNESCO, downloaded 2018.01.09].

Recognized as one of the premier political hosts and networkers in our nation’s capital for decades, Coopersmith says she hosted the first dinner party for Bill Clinton in D.C.:

Whether HB 1028 requires Coopersmith to change her trust’s name or submit to trust regulations, the DC socializer still has some South Dakota paperwork to do: Secretary of State Shantel Krebs lists Coopersmith Trust Protector’s business status as delinquent, with the last paperwork filed in May 2014.