BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	NOTE 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES The Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited) of First BanCorp. (“the Corporation”) have been prepared in conformity with the accounting policies stated in the Corporation's Audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted from these statements pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC and, accordingly, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation for the year ended December 31, 2014, which are included in the Corporation's 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K. All adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the statement of financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods have been reflected. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The results of operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the entire year. Adoption of new accounting requirements and recently issued but not yet effective accounting requirements The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) has issued the following accounting pronouncements and guidance relevant to the Corporation's operations: In January 2014, the FASB updated the Accounting Standards Codification (the “Codification”) to clarify when a creditor should be considered to have received physical possession of residential real estate property collateralizing a consumer mortgage loan so that the loan should be derecognized and the real estate property recognized in the financial statements. The Update clarifies that an in substance repossession or foreclosure occurs, and a creditor is considered to have received physical possession of residential real estate property collateralizing a consumer mortgage loan upon either: (i) the creditor obtaining legal title to the residential real estate property upon completion of a foreclosure, or (ii) the borrower conveying all interest in the residential real estate property to the creditor to satisfy the loan through completion of a deed in lieu of foreclosure or through a similar legal agreement. In addition, creditors are required to disclose on an annual and interim basis both (i) the amount of the foreclosed residential real estate property held and (ii) the recorded investment in consumer mortgage loans collateralized by residential real estate property that are in the process of foreclosure according to local requirements of the applicable jurisdiction. The amendments are effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2014, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The guidance can be implemented using either a modified retrospective transition method or a prospective transition method. The Corporation adopted the provisions of this guidance on a prospective basis during the first quarter of 2015 without any material impact on the Corporation's financial statements. Refer to Notes 7 and 10 for required disclosures. In May 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to create a new, principle-based revenue recognition framework. The Update is the culmination of efforts by the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board to develop a common revenue standard for U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. The core principal of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This guidance describes a 5-step process entities can apply to achieve the core principle of revenue recognition and requires disclosures sufficient to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers and the significant judgments used in determining that information. The amendments are expect to become effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those reporting periods, as a result of the FASB's recent issuance of a proposal to defer the effective date of the standard by one year. Early adoption is not permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this guidance will have on the presentation and disclosures in its financial statements. In June 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to respond to stakeholders' concerns about current accounting and disclosures for repurchase agreements and similar transactions. This Update requires two accounting changes. First, the Update changes the accounting for repurchase-to-maturity transactions to secured borrowing accounting. Second, for repurchase financing arrangements, the Update requires separate accounting for a transfer of a financial asset executed contemporaneously with a repurchase agreement with the same counterparty, which will result in secured borrowing accounting for the repurchase agreement. Additionally, the Update introduces new disclosures to (i) increase transparency about the types of collateral pledged in secured borrowing transactions and (ii) enable users to better understand transactions in which the transferor retains substantially all of the exposure to the economic return on the transferred financial asset throughout the term of the transaction. For public business entities, the disclosure for repurchase agreements, securities lending transactions, and repurchase-to-maturity transactions accounted for as secured borrowings is required to be presented for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2014, and for interim periods beginning after March 15, 2015. All other accounting and disclosure amendments in the Update are effective for public business entities for the first interim or annual period beginning after December 15, 2014. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Corporation's financial statements. In June 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to provide guidance for determining compensation cost under specific circumstances when an employee's compensation award is eligible to vest regardless of whether the employee is rendering service on the date the performance target is achieved. This Update becomes effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this guidance will have on the presentation and disclosures in its financial statements, if any. In August 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to reduce the diversity found in the classification of certain foreclosed mortgage loans held by creditors that are either fully or partially guaranteed under government programs. Consistency in classification upon foreclosure is expected in order to provide more decision-useful information. The amendments in this Update require that a mortgage loan be derecognized and that a separate other receivable be recognized upon foreclosure if: (i) the loan has a government guarantee that is not separable from the loan before foreclosure; (ii) at the time of foreclosure, the creditor has the intent to convey the real estate property to the guarantor and make a claim on the guarantee, and the creditor has the ability to recover under the claim, and (iii) at the time of foreclosure, any amount of the claim that is determined on the basis of the fair value of the real estate is fixed. Upon foreclosure, the separate other receivable should be measured based on the amount of the loan balance (principal and interest) expected to be recovered from the guarantor. The Update is effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2014. The guidance can be implemented using either a prospective transition method or a modified retrospective transition method. The Corporation adopted the provisions of this guidance on a prospective basis during the first quarter of 2015 without any material impact on the Corporation's financial statements. In August 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to provide guidance in GAAP about management's responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern and to provide related footnote disclosures. Management's evaluation should be based on relevant conditions and events that are known and reasonably knowable at the date that the financial statements are issued. If conditions or events raise substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern, but the substantial doubt is alleviated as a result of consideration of management's plans, the entity should disclose information that enables users of the financial statements to understand such determination. The Update is effective for all business entities for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016, and for annual periods and interim periods thereafter. Early application is permitted. The Corporation expects the adoption of this guidance will have no impact on the Corporation's financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income, cash flows and disclosures. In November 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to clarify how current GAAP should be interpreted in evaluating the economic characteristics and risk of a host contract in a hybrid financial instrument that is issued in the form of a share. In addition, the Update was issued to clarify that, in evaluating the nature of a host contract, an entity should assess the substance of the relevant terms and features (that is, the relative strength of the debt-like or equity-like terms and features given the facts and circumstances) when considering how to weight those terms and features. The effects of initially adopting this Update should be applied on a modified retrospective basis to existing hybrid financial instruments issued in the form of a share as of the beginning of the fiscal year for which the amendments are effective. Retrospective application is permitted to all relevant prior periods. This Update is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption in an interim period is permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements, if any. In January 2015, the FASB updated the Codification to eliminate from GAAP the concept of extraordinary items as part of its initiative to reduce complexity in accounting standards (the Simplification Initiative). Under current GAAP, an event or transaction is presumed to be an ordinary and usual activity of the reporting entity unless evidence clearly supports its classification as an extraordinary item. In order to be classified as an extraordinary item, the event or transaction must be: (i) unusual in nature, and (ii) infrequent in occurrence. Before the update was issued, an entity was required to segregate these items from the results of ordinary operations and show the items separately in the income statement, net of tax, after income from continuing operations. This Update is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption in an interim period is permitted. The Corporation expects the adoption of this guidance will have no impact on the Corporation's consolidated financial statements. In February 2015, the FASB updated the Codification to eliminate the deferral of FAS 167, which has allowed reporting entities with interests in certain investment funds to follow the previous consolidation guidance in FIN 46(R), and to make other changes to both the variable interest model and the voting model. While the Update is aimed at asset managers, it will affect all reporting entities involved with limited partnerships or similar entities. In some cases, consolidation conclusions will change. In other cases, reporting entities will need to provide additional disclosure about entities that currently are not considered VIEs but will be considered VIEs under the new guidance when they have a variable interest in those VIEs. Regardless of whether conclusions change or additional disclosure requirements are triggered, reporting entities will need to re-evaluate limited partnerships or similar entities for consolidation and revise their documentation. For public business entities, the Update is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. A reporting entity must apply the amendments retrospectively. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements, if any. In April 2015, the FASB updated the Codification to clarify that customers should determine whether a cloud computing arrangement includes the license of software by applying the same guidance cloud service providers use to make this determination. Examples of cloud computing arrangements include software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as a service and other hosting arrangements. If a hosting arrangement includes a software license for internal use software, the software license should be accounted for by the customer under ASC 350-40. A license of software other than internal use software would be accounted for by the customer under other U.S. GAAP (e.g., a research and development cost and software to be sold, leased or otherwise marketed). If a hosting arrangement includes a software licenses, then that would be in addition to any service contract in the arrangement. Hosting arrangements that do not include software licenses should be accounted for as service contracts. The Update also eliminates the existing requirement for customers to account for software licenses they acquire by analogizing to the guidance on leases. Instead, customers will account for software licenses that are in the scope of ASC 350-40 in the same manner as licenses of other intangible assets. Entities have the option of applying the guidance (1) prospectively to all arrangements entered into or materially modified after the effective date or (2) retrospectively. Entities that elect prospective application are required to disclose the reason for the change in accounting principle, the transition method, and a description of the financial statement line items affected by the change. Entities that elect retrospective application must disclose the information required by ASC 250. For public business entities, the guidance is effective for annual periods, including interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements, if any.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

NOTE 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited) of First BanCorp. (“the Corporation”) have been prepared in conformity with the accounting policies stated in the Corporation's Audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted from these statements pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC and, accordingly, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation for the year ended December 31, 2014, which are included in the Corporation's 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K. All adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the statement of financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods have been reflected. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The results of operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the entire year.

Adoption of new accounting requirements and recently issued but not yet effective accounting requirements

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) has issued the following accounting pronouncements and guidance relevant to the Corporation's operations:

In January 2014, the FASB updated the Accounting Standards Codification (the “Codification”) to clarify when a creditor should be considered to have received physical possession of residential real estate property collateralizing a consumer mortgage loan so that the loan should be derecognized and the real estate property recognized in the financial statements. The Update clarifies that an in substance repossession or foreclosure occurs, and a creditor is considered to have received physical possession of residential real estate property collateralizing a consumer mortgage loan upon either: (i) the creditor obtaining legal title to the residential real estate property upon completion of a foreclosure, or (ii) the borrower conveying all interest in the residential real estate property to the creditor to satisfy the loan through completion of a deed in lieu of foreclosure or through a similar legal agreement. In addition, creditors are required to disclose on an annual and interim basis both (i) the amount of the foreclosed residential real estate property held and (ii) the recorded investment in consumer mortgage loans collateralized by residential real estate property that are in the process of foreclosure according to local requirements of the applicable jurisdiction. The amendments are effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2014, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The guidance can be implemented using either a modified retrospective transition method or a prospective transition method. The Corporation adopted the provisions of this guidance on a prospective basis during the first quarter of 2015 without any material impact on the Corporation's financial statements. Refer to Notes 7 and 10 for required disclosures.

In May 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to create a new, principle-based revenue recognition framework. The Update is the culmination of efforts by the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board to develop a common revenue standard for U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. The core principal of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This guidance describes a 5-step process entities can apply to achieve the core principle of revenue recognition and requires disclosures sufficient to enable users of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers and the significant judgments used in determining that information. The amendments are expect to become effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those reporting periods, as a result of the FASB's recent issuance of a proposal to defer the effective date of the standard by one year. Early adoption is not permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this guidance will have on the presentation and disclosures in its financial statements.

In June 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to respond to stakeholders' concerns about current accounting and disclosures for repurchase agreements and similar transactions. This Update requires two accounting changes. First, the Update changes the accounting for repurchase-to-maturity transactions to secured borrowing accounting. Second, for repurchase financing arrangements, the Update requires separate accounting for a transfer of a financial asset executed contemporaneously with a repurchase agreement with the same counterparty, which will result in secured borrowing accounting for the repurchase agreement. Additionally, the Update introduces new disclosures to (i) increase transparency about the types of collateral pledged in secured borrowing transactions and (ii) enable users to better understand transactions in which the transferor retains substantially all of the exposure to the economic return on the transferred financial asset throughout the term of the transaction. For public business entities, the disclosure for repurchase agreements, securities lending transactions, and repurchase-to-maturity transactions accounted for as secured borrowings is required to be presented for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2014, and for interim periods beginning after March 15, 2015. All other accounting and disclosure amendments in the Update are effective for public business entities for the first interim or annual period beginning after December 15, 2014. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Corporation's financial statements.

In June 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to provide guidance for determining compensation cost under specific circumstances when an employee's compensation award is eligible to vest regardless of whether the employee is rendering service on the date the performance target is achieved. This Update becomes effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this guidance will have on the presentation and disclosures in its financial statements, if any.

In August 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to reduce the diversity found in the classification of certain foreclosed mortgage loans held by creditors that are either fully or partially guaranteed under government programs. Consistency in classification upon foreclosure is expected in order to provide more decision-useful information. The amendments in this Update require that a mortgage loan be derecognized and that a separate other receivable be recognized upon foreclosure if: (i) the loan has a government guarantee that is not separable from the loan before foreclosure; (ii) at the time of foreclosure, the creditor has the intent to convey the real estate property to the guarantor and make a claim on the guarantee, and the creditor has the ability to recover under the claim, and (iii) at the time of foreclosure, any amount of the claim that is determined on the basis of the fair value of the real estate is fixed. Upon foreclosure, the separate other receivable should be measured based on the amount of the loan balance (principal and interest) expected to be recovered from the guarantor. The Update is effective for public business entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2014. The guidance can be implemented using either a prospective transition method or a modified retrospective transition method. The Corporation adopted the provisions of this guidance on a prospective basis during the first quarter of 2015 without any material impact on the Corporation's financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to provide guidance in GAAP about management's responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern and to provide related footnote disclosures. Management's evaluation should be based on relevant conditions and events that are known and reasonably knowable at the date that the financial statements are issued. If conditions or events raise substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern, but the substantial doubt is alleviated as a result of consideration of management's plans, the entity should disclose information that enables users of the financial statements to understand such determination. The Update is effective for all business entities for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016, and for annual periods and interim periods thereafter. Early application is permitted. The Corporation expects the adoption of this guidance will have no impact on the Corporation's financial position, results of operations, comprehensive income, cash flows and disclosures.

In November 2014, the FASB updated the Codification to clarify how current GAAP should be interpreted in evaluating the economic characteristics and risk of a host contract in a hybrid financial instrument that is issued in the form of a share. In addition, the Update was issued to clarify that, in evaluating the nature of a host contract, an entity should assess the substance of the relevant terms and features (that is, the relative strength of the debt-like or equity-like terms and features given the facts and circumstances) when considering how to weight those terms and features. The effects of initially adopting this Update should be applied on a modified retrospective basis to existing hybrid financial instruments issued in the form of a share as of the beginning of the fiscal year for which the amendments are effective. Retrospective application is permitted to all relevant prior periods. This Update is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption in an interim period is permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements, if any.

In January 2015, the FASB updated the Codification to eliminate from GAAP the concept of extraordinary items as part of its initiative to reduce complexity in accounting standards (the Simplification Initiative). Under current GAAP, an event or transaction is presumed to be an ordinary and usual activity of the reporting entity unless evidence clearly supports its classification as an extraordinary item. In order to be classified as an extraordinary item, the event or transaction must be: (i) unusual in nature, and (ii) infrequent in occurrence. Before the update was issued, an entity was required to segregate these items from the results of ordinary operations and show the items separately in the income statement, net of tax, after income from continuing operations. This Update is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption in an interim period is permitted. The Corporation expects the adoption of this guidance will have no impact on the Corporation's consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, the FASB updated the Codification to eliminate the deferral of FAS 167, which has allowed reporting entities with interests in certain investment funds to follow the previous consolidation guidance in FIN 46(R), and to make other changes to both the variable interest model and the voting model. While the Update is aimed at asset managers, it will affect all reporting entities involved with limited partnerships or similar entities. In some cases, consolidation conclusions will change. In other cases, reporting entities will need to provide additional disclosure about entities that currently are not considered VIEs but will be considered VIEs under the new guidance when they have a variable interest in those VIEs. Regardless of whether conclusions change or additional disclosure requirements are triggered, reporting entities will need to re-evaluate limited partnerships or similar entities for consolidation and revise their documentation. For public business entities, the Update is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. A reporting entity must apply the amendments retrospectively. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements, if any.

In April 2015, the FASB updated the Codification to clarify that customers should determine whether a cloud computing arrangement includes the license of software by applying the same guidance cloud service providers use to make this determination. Examples of cloud computing arrangements include software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as a service and other hosting arrangements. If a hosting arrangement includes a software license for internal use software, the software license should be accounted for by the customer under ASC 350-40. A license of software other than internal use software would be accounted for by the customer under other U.S. GAAP (e.g., a research and development cost and software to be sold, leased or otherwise marketed). If a hosting arrangement includes a software licenses, then that would be in addition to any service contract in the arrangement. Hosting arrangements that do not include software licenses should be accounted for as service contracts. The Update also eliminates the existing requirement for customers to account for software licenses they acquire by analogizing to the guidance on leases. Instead, customers will account for software licenses that are in the scope of ASC 350-40 in the same manner as licenses of other intangible assets. Entities have the option of applying the guidance (1) prospectively to all arrangements entered into or materially modified after the effective date or (2) retrospectively. Entities that elect prospective application are required to disclose the reason for the change in accounting principle, the transition method, and a description of the financial statement line items affected by the change. Entities that elect retrospective application must disclose the information required by ASC 250. For public business entities, the guidance is effective for annual periods, including interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The Corporation is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements, if any.