Related Party Transactions

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Related Party Transactions [Abstract]

Related Party Transactions Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 11 – Related Party Transactions

Transactions with Counsel 

At March 31, 2013 the Company had a receivable from Counsel in the amount of $2,224, as compared to a receivable of $2,929 at December 31, 2012. No interest is charged on this receivable. In the normal course of operations, the Company may receive advances from Counsel under an existing loan facility (the “Counsel Loan”). The Counsel Loan, which was originally entered into during the fourth quarter of 2003, accrues interest at 10% per annum compounded quarterly from the date funds are advanced, and is due on demand. Any outstanding balance under the Counsel Loan is secured by the assets of the Company. At March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, the balance of the Counsel Loan was zero due to the Company’s net receivable from Counsel. 

Counsel Services Provided to Company 

Since December 2004, CRBCI and Counsel have entered into successive annual management services agreements (the “Agreement”). Under the terms of the Agreement, CRBCI agrees to pay Counsel for ongoing services provided to CRBCI by Counsel personnel. These services include preparation of the Company’s financial statements and regulatory filings, taxation matters, stock-based compensation administration, Board administration, patent portfolio administration and litigation matters. The Counsel employees providing the services are: 1) its Executive Vice President, Secretary and Chief Financial Officer, 2) its Vice President, Tax & Asset Management, 3) an Accounting Manager, and 4) its Accounts Payable Clerk. These employees have the same or similar positions with CRBCI, but none of them receive compensation from CRBCI. Rather, Counsel allocates to CRBCI a percentage, based on time incurred, of the employees’ base compensation paid by Counsel. The amounts due under the Agreement are payable within 30 days following the respective year end, subject to applicable restrictions. Any unpaid fee amounts bear interest at 10% per annum commencing on the day after such year end. In the event of a change of control, merger or similar event of CRBCI, all amounts owing, including fees incurred up to the date of the event, will become due and payable immediately upon the occurrence of such event. Counsel has continued to provide these services in 2013 on the same cost basis. 

In addition to the above, beginning in the first quarter of 2011, additional amounts have been charged to CRBCI for the services of Counsel personnel that relate to the ongoing operations of CRBCI’s asset liquidation business. All amounts charged by Counsel are detailed below: 

Item	Three months ended March 31,
	2013		2012
Management fees	$	90	$	90
Other charges		18		18
Total	$	108	$	108

Transactions with Other Related Parties 

The Company leases office space in White Plains, NY and Los Angeles, CA as part of the operations of Counsel RB. Both premises are owned by entities that are controlled by a Co-CEO of Counsel RB and the Company. Additionally, the Company leases office space in Foster City, CA as part of the operations of Heritage Global Partners, which is owned by an entity that is jointly controlled by the former owners of Heritage Global Partners. The lease amounts paid by the Company to the related parties are detailed below: 

Leased premises location	Three months ended March 31,
	2013		2012
White Plains, NY	$	33	$	32
Los Angeles, CA		6		6
Foster City, CA		57		11
Total	$	96	$	49

As discussed in Note 3, as part of the acquisition of Heritage Global Partners in February 2012, the Company issued Promissory Notes totaling $1,000 to its two former owners, partially offset by $151 of accounts receivable from the former owners. During the third quarter of 2012, the Promissory Notes, which did not accrue interest, were repaid in full, and the accounts receivable were collected.

On August 10, 2012, the Company entered into intellectual property licensing agreements with each of the Company’s Co-CEOs. In return for an exclusive, perpetual license to use his name, each Co-CEO was issued 400,000 shares of common stock of the Company, valued at $1.31672 per share, resulting in a total transaction value of $1,054.