NOTE 18 – 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 and executive officers, including their affiliates is as follows:


	For the years ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)	2019			2018
Balance, beginning of year	$	13,969		15,276
New loans		6,709		5,686
Less loan payments		(9,787	)	(6,993	)
Balance, end of year	$	10,891		13,969

Deposits by executive officers and directors and their related interests at December 31, 2019 and 2018, were $2.5 million and $2.7 million, respectively.

The Company has a land lease with a director on the property for a branch office, with monthly payments of $8,256. 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, including the development of the new bank headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina. Payments totaling $600,000 were made to the director for these services during the year ended December 31, 2019. Also, the Company has previously contracted with the director to provide property management services for its four offices in the Greenville market. The Company paid the director approximately $21,000, and $38,000 for these services during 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The Company also utilizes employment recruiting services from a vendor for which one of the Company’s directors is an owner and serves as the chairman of the board. The Company paid approximately $38,000 to the vendor for the year ended December 31, 2018.

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