Related Party Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Related Party Transactions [Abstract]

Related Party Transactions

NOTE 15 – Related Party Transactions

Certain directors, executive officers, and companies with which they are affiliated, are clients of and have banking transactions with the Company in the ordinary course of business. These loans were made on substantially the same terms, including interest rates and collateral, as those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions with persons not related to the lender.

A summary of loan transactions with directors, including their affiliates and executive officers is as follows:

	For the years ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)	2014			2013
Balance, beginning of year	$	23,522		17,469
New loans		9,703		25,824
Less loan payments		(13,032	)	(19,771	)
Balance, end of year	$	20,193		23,522

Deposits by officers and directors and their related interests at December 31, 2014 and 2013, were $4.9 million and $2.5 million, respectively.

The Company has a land lease with a director on the property for a branch office, with monthly payments of $5,388. In addition, the Company periodically enters into various consulting agreements with the director for development, administration and advisory services related to the purchase of property and construction of current and future branch office sites. Also, the Company contracts with the director on an annual basis to provide property management services for its four offices in the Greenville market. The Company paid the director approximately $32,000, $30,000, and $44,000 for these services during 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively.

The Company also purchases various signage for its retail offices from a local vendor for which one of the Company’s directors acted as chairman of the board. The Company paid approximately $41,000, $166,000 and $31,000 to the vendor for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2102, respectively.

The Company is of the opinion that the lease payments, consulting fees, and signage costs represent market costs that could have been obtained in similar “arms length” transactions.