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RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS

NOTE 18—RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The Bank has granted loans to certain officers and directors and their related interests. Such loans amounted to none and $748 thousand at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively.

Deposits from principal officers, directors, and their related interests amounted to $9.3 million and $10.5 million at March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively.

Transactions Involving Steven A. Sugarman. The following is a description of transactions involving the Company and certain entities affiliated with or relatives of Steven A. Sugarman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank and a member of the Board of Directors of the Company and the Bank.

Palisades Lease Payment Reimbursements. The Company acquired its subsidiary, Palisades Group, LLC (Palisades) on September 16, 2013, at which time Palisades occupied (and continues to occupy) premises in Santa Monica, California leased by COR Securities Holding, Inc. (CORSHI), of which Mr. Sugarman is the Chief Executive Officer as well as a shareholder (both directly and indirectly). In light of the benefit received by Palisades of its occupancy of the Santa Monica premises, the non-interested directors of the Company’s Board ratified reimbursement to CORSHI for rental payments made for the Santa Monica premises for the period commencing September 16, 2013 through the last date Palisades occupies the premises. Palisades is negotiating with an unaffiliated third party a lease for new premises and plans to vacate the Santa Monica premises June 2014.

If Palisades continues to occupy the Santa Monica premises through June 30, 2014 then the aggregate rent payments under the lease to be reimbursed to CORSHI from September 16, 2013 through June 30, 2014 will be $109,950. This aggregate amount is comprised of (i) $5,661, the pro-rated base rent amount for the partial month of September 2013; (ii) $11,324 per month in base rent for the months of October and November 2013, and (iii) $11,663 per month in base rent for the month of December 2013 and the months of January through June 2014. The continued reimbursement costs are being monitored by the Board’s Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

In addition to the rental payments, the Company reimbursed CORSHI relating to a security deposit amount for the premises of $33,844. All or a portion of the security deposit will be reimbursed to the Company subsequent to the Palisades relocation, with the actual amount to be determined based on the review and recommendation made by the Board’s Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

 

Palisades Consulting AgreementAs discussed above, the Company acquired its subsidiary, Palisades on September 16, 2013. Effective July 1, 2013, Palisades entered into a consulting agreement with Jason Sugarman, Mr. Sugarman’s brother. Jason Sugarman provides advisory services to financial institutions and other institutional clients related to investments in residential mortgages, real estate and real estate related assets and Palisades entered into the agreement with Jason Sugarman to provide these types of consulting services. The consulting agreement is for a term of 5 years, with a minimum payment of $30,000 owed at the end of each quarter for consulting services Jason Sugarman has provided Palisades. There is also the potential for additional bonus payments based on the nature of work performed and the financial results of Palisades. The aggregate amount of identified payments that will be paid by Palisades to Jason Sugarman under the five-year term of the consulting agreement will exceed $600,000. The $600,000 is the minimum amount owed but does not include any bonuses that may be earned under the agreement. For the year ended December 31, 2013 and the quarter ended March 31, 2014, amounts earned by Jason Sugarman under the consulting agreement totaled $120,662 and $30,000, respectively. The consulting agreement may be terminated at any time by ether Palisades or Jason Sugarman upon 30 days prior written notice. The consulting agreement with Jason Sugarman was reviewed as a related party transaction and approved by the Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and approved by the disinterested directors of the Board.

CS Financial Acquisition. Certain relatives and entities affiliated with Mr. Sugarman received benefits as part of the CS Financial acquisition described in detail below under “—Transactions Involving Jeffrey T. Seabold.”

Transactions Involving Jeffrey T. Seabold. The following is a description of transactions involving the Company and certain entities affiliated with Jeffrey T. Seabold, who currently is employed as the Bank’s Managing Director, Chief Lending Officer and previously served as a director of the Company and the Bank.

CS Financial Acquisition. Effective October 31, 2013, the Company acquired CS Financial Inc. (CS Financial), a California corporation and Southern California-based mortgage banking firm controlled by Jeffrey T. Seabold and in which certain relatives and entities affiliated with Mr. Sugarman also own certain minority, non-controlling interests. The following is a description of the transaction.

CS Financial Service Agreement. On December 27, 2012, the Company entered into a Management Services Agreement (the “Services Agreement”) with CS Financial. On December 27, 2012, Mr. Seabold was then a member of the Board of Directors of each of the Company and the Bank. Under the Services Agreement, CS Financial agreed to provide the Bank such reasonably requested financial analysis, management consulting, knowledge sharing, training services and general advisory services as the Bank and CS Financial mutually agreed upon with respect to the Bank’s residential mortgage lending business, including strategic plans and business objectives, compliance function, monitoring, reporting and related systems, and policies and procedures, at a monthly fee of $100,000. The Services Agreement was recommended by disinterested members of management of the Bank and negotiated and approved by special committees of the Board of Directors of each of the Company and the Bank (the Special Committees), comprised exclusively of independent, disinterested directors of the Boards. Each of the Boards of Directors of the Bank and the Company also considered and approved the Services Agreement, upon the recommendation of the Special Committees.

On May 13, 2013, the Bank hired Mr. Seabold as Managing Director and Chief Lending Officer by entering into a three-year employment agreement with Mr. Seabold (the Employment Agreement). Simultaneously, the Bank terminated, with immediate effect, its Services Agreement with CS Financial. For the year ended December 31, 2013, the total compensation paid to CS Financial under the Services Agreement was $439,000.

Option to Acquire CS Financial. Under the Employment Agreement, Mr. Seabold granted to the Company and the Bank an option (the CS Call Option), to acquire CS Financial for a purchase price of $10 million, payable pursuant to the terms provided under the Employment Agreement. Based upon the recommendation of the Special Committees, with the assistance of outside financial and legal advisors and consultants, the Boards of Directors of the Company and the Bank, with Mr. Sugarman recusing himself from the discussions and vote due to previously disclosed conflicts of interest, approved the recommendation of the Special Committees and, pursuant to a letter dated July 29, 2013, the Company indicated that the CS Call Option was being exercised by the Bank, subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive transaction documentation consistent with the applicable provisions of the Employment Agreement and the satisfaction of the terms and conditions set forth therein.

Merger Agreement. After exercise of the CS Call Option as described above, the Company and the Bank entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the Merger Agreement) with CS Financial, the stockholders of CS Financial (the “Sellers”) and Mr. Seabold, as the Sellers’ Representative and completed its acquisition of CS Financial on October 31, 2013.

Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, which was approved by the Board of Directors of each of the Company, the Bank and CS Financial, at the effective time of the Merger, the outstanding shares of common stock of CS Financial was converted into the right to receive in the aggregate: (1) upon the closing of the Merger, (a) 173,791 shares (the Closing Date Shares) of voting common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company (the “Company Common Stock”), and (b) $1,500,000 in cash and $3,150,000 in the form of a noninterest-bearing note issued by the Company to Mr. Seabold that was due and paid by the Company on January 2, 2014; and (2) upon the achievement of certain performance targets by the Bank’s Lending Division following the closing of the Merger that are set forth in the Merger Agreement, up to 92,781 shares (the Performance Shares) of Company Common Stock ((1) and (2), together, the “Merger Consideration”).

 

Seller Stock Consideration. The Sellers under the Merger Agreement included Mr. Seabold, and the following relatives of Mr. Sugarman: Jason Sugarman (brother), Elizabeth Sugarman (sister-in-law), and Michael Sugarman (father), who each owned minority, non-controlling interests in CS Financial.

Upon the closing of the Merger and pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, the aggregate shares of Company Common Stock issued as the consideration to the Sellers was 173,791 shares, which was allocated by the Sellers and issued as follows: (i) 103,663 shares to Mr. Seabold, (ii) 16,140 shares to Jason Sugarman, (iii) 16,140 shares to Elizabeth Sugarman, (iv) 3,228 shares to Michael Sugarman, and (v) 34,620 shares to certain employees of CS Financial. Of the 103,663 shares to be issued to Mr. Seabold, as allowed under the Merger Agreement and in consideration of repayment of a certain debt incurred by CS Financial owed to an entity controlled by Elizabeth Sugarman, Mr. Seabold requested the Company to issue all 103,663 shares directly to Elizabeth Sugarman, and such shares were so issued by the Company to Elizabeth Sugarman.

Approval of the CS Call Option, Merger Agreement and Merger. All decisions and actions with respect to the exercise of the CS Agreement Option, the Merger Agreement and the Merger (including without limitation the determination of the Merger Consideration and the other material terms of the Merger Agreement) fall under the purview and authority of special committees of the Board of Directors of each of the Company and the Bank, which are each composed exclusively of independent, disinterested directors of such Boards of Directors, with the assistance of outside financial and legal advisors. Mr. Sugarman abstained from the vote of each of the Boards of Directors of the Company and the Bank to approve the Merger Agreement and the Merger.

Transaction With TCW Shared Opportunity Fund V, L.P., a Greater than 5 percent Shareholder. TCW Shared Opportunity Fund V, L.P. (TCW) initially became a holder of the Company’s voting common stock (Voting Common Stock) and non-voting common stock (Non-Voting Common Stock) as a lead investor in the November 2010 recapitalization of the Company (the Recapitalization). In connection with its investment in the Recapitalization, TCW also was issued by the Company an immediately exercisable five-year warrant (the TCW Warrant) to purchase 240,000 shares of Non-Voting Common Stock or, to the extent provided therein, shares of Voting Common Stock in lieu of Non-Voting Common Stock. TCW was issued shares of Non-Voting Common Stock in the Recapitalization because at that time, a controlling interest in TCW Asset Management Company, the investment manager to TCW, was held by a foreign banking organization, and in order to prevent TCW from being considered a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, the number of shares of Voting Common Stock it purchased in the Recapitalization had to be limited to 4.99 percent of the total number of shares of Voting Common Stock outstanding immediately following the Recapitalization. For the same reason, the TCW Warrant could be exercised by TCW for Voting Common Stock in lieu of Non-Voting Common Stock only to the extent TCW’s percentage ownership of the Voting Common Stock at the time of exercise would be less than 4.99 percent as a result of dilution occurring from additional issuances of Voting Common Stock subsequent to the Recapitalization.

In 2013, the foreign banking organization sold its controlling interest in TCW Asset Management Company, eliminating the need to limit TCW’s percentage ownership of the Voting Common Stock to 4.99 percent. As a result, on May 29, 2013, the Company and TCW entered into a Common Stock Share Exchange Agreement, dated May 29, 2013 (the “Exchange Agreement”), pursuant to which TCW may from time to time exchange its shares of Non-Voting Common Stock for shares of Voting Common Stock issued by the Company on a share-for-share basis, provided that immediately following any such exchange, TCW’s percentage ownership of Voting Common Stock does not exceed 9.99 percent. The shares of Non-Voting Common Stock that may be exchanged by TCW pursuant to the Exchange Agreement include the shares of Non-Voting Common Stock it purchased in the Recapitalization, the additional shares of Non-Voting Common Stock TCW acquired subsequent to the Recapitalization (and may in the future acquire) pursuant to the Company’s Dividend Reinvestment Plan and any additional shares of Non-Voting Common Stock that TCW acquires pursuant to its exercise of the TCW Warrant.

On June 3, 2013, TCW exchanged 550,000 shares of Non-Voting Common Stock for the same number of shares of Voting Common Stock. As a result of that exchange and based on a Schedule 13-F and 13-G TCW filed with the SEC during the first quarter of 2014, the Company believes that as of December 31, 2013 TCW held 1,078,250 shares of Voting Common Stock and 466,830 shares of Non-Voting Common Stock, plus the TCW Warrant under which up to 240,000 shares of Non-Voting Common Stock may be issued upon exercise and may thereafter be exchanged for shares of Voting Common Stock pursuant to the Exchange Agreement.