NOTE 23 – REGULATORY MATTERS, COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Corporation is subject to various regulatory capital requirements imposed by the federal banking agencies. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can result in certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material adverse effect on the Corporation’s financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, the Corporation must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of the Corporation’s assets and liabilities, and certain off-balance sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The Corporation’s capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments and adjustment by the regulators with respect to minimum capital requirements, components, risk weightings, and other factors.

First BanCorp. is subject to the Written Agreement that the Corporation entered into with the New York FED on June 3, 2010. The Written Agreement provides, among other things, that the holding company must serve as a source of strength to FirstBank, and that, except with the consent generally of the New York FED and the Federal Reserve Board, (1) the holding company may not pay dividends to stockholders or receive dividends from FirstBank, (2) the holding company and its nonbank subsidiaries may not make payments on trust-preferred securities or subordinated debt, and (3) the holding company cannot incur, increase, or guarantee debt or repurchase any capital securities. The Written Agreement also required that the holding company submit a capital plan acceptable to the New York FED that reflected sufficient capital at First BanCorp. on a consolidated basis and follow certain guidelines with respect to the appointment or change in responsibilities of senior officers. The foregoing summary is not complete and is qualified in all respects by reference to the actual language of the Written Agreement, which the Corporation filed with the SEC.

The Corporation submitted its Capital Plan setting forth its plans for how to improve its capital positions to comply with the Written Agreement over time. In addition to the Capital Plan, the Corporation submitted to its regulators a liquidity and brokered CD plan, including a contingency funding plan, a non-performing asset reduction plan, a budget and profit plan, a strategic plan, and a plan for the reduction of classified and special mention assets. As of September 30, 2016, the Corporation had completed all of the items included in the Capital Plan and is continuing to work on reducing non-performing loans. The Written Agreement also requires the submission to the regulators of quarterly progress reports.

Although the Corporation and FirstBank became subject to the U.S. Basel III capital rules (“Basel III rules”) beginning on January 1, 2015, certain requirements of the Basel III rules will be phased in over several years. The phase-in period for certain deductions and adjustments to regulatory capital (such as certain intangible assets and deferred tax assets that arise from net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards) will be completed on January 1, 2018. The Corporation and FirstBank compute risk-weighted assets using the Standardized Approach required by the Basel III rules.

The Basel III rules require the Corporation to maintain an additional capital conservation buffer of 2.5% to avoid limitations on both (i) capital distributions (e.g. repurchases of capital instruments or dividend or interest payments on capital instruments) and (ii) discretionary bonus payments to executive officers and heads of major business lines. The phase-in of the capital conservation buffer began on January 1, 2016 with a first year requirement of 0.625% of additional Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (“CET1”), which will be progressively increased over a four-year period, increasing by that same percentage amount on each subsequent January 1 until it reaches the fully phased-in 2.5% CET1 requirement on January 1, 2019.

Under the fully phased-in Basel III rules, in order to be considered adequately capitalized, the Corporation will be required to maintain: (i) a minimum CET1 capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of at least 4.5%, plus the 2.5% “capital conservation buffer,” resulting in a required minimum CET1 ratio of at least 7%, (ii) a minimum ratio of total Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 6.0%, plus the 2.5% capital conservation buffer, resulting in a required minimum Tier 1 capital ratio of 8.5%, (iii) a minimum ratio of total Tier 1 plus Tier 2 capital to risk-weighted assets of at least 8.0%, plus the 2.5% capital conservation buffer, resulting in a required minimum total capital ratio of 10.5%, and (iv) a required minimum leverage ratio of 4%, calculated as the ratio of Tier 1 capital to average on-balance sheet (non-risk adjusted) assets.

In addition, as required under the Basel III rules, the Corporation’s trust preferred securities (“TRuPs”) were fully phased out from Tier 1 capital on January 1, 2016. However, the Corporation’s TRuPs may continue to be included in Tier 2 capital until the instruments are redeemed or mature.

In March 2016, the FDIC adopted a final rule (“Final Rule”) imposing a quarterly deposit insurance assessment surcharge on banks with at least $10 billion in assets of 4.5 cents per $100 of their assessment base, after making certain adjustments once the Deposit Insurance Fund Reserve Ratio reaches or exceeds 1.15 percent. For purposes of this surcharge, the first $10 billion of assets are subtracted from the regular insurance assessment base to determine the surcharge base. The assessment surcharge became effective on July 1, 2016, is assessed as of the third quarter of 2016, and applies to FirstBank. The Bank’s current surcharge base is slightly higher than the $10 billion threshold. The surcharge assessments will continue through December 31, 2018 or until the Deposit Insurance Fund Reserve Ratio reaches or exceeds 1.35 percent. In addition, under existing regulations, the FDIC reduced the initial base assessment rate, which reduces the standard risk-based assessment rate. This resulted in a decrease in the total FDIC insurance premium expense (standard risk-based assessment plus assessment surcharge expense) of approximately $0.8 million in the third quarter of 2016, as the benefit of the reduction in the initial base assessment rate exceeded the surcharge amount. In addition, under the Final Rule, if the Deposit Insurance Fund Reserve Ratio does not reach 1.35 percent by December 31, 2018, a shortfall assessment may be assessed on large banks in the first quarter of 2019 and collected by the FDIC on June 30, 2019.

Other Recent Regulatory Developments

In May 2016, the federal banking agencies proposed regulations governing incentive-based compensation practices at covered banking institutions. These proposed rules are intended to better align the financial rewards for covered employees with an institution’s long-term safety and soundness. Portions of these proposed rules would apply to the Corporation and FirstBank. Those applicable provisions would generally (i) prohibit types and features of incentive-based compensation arrangements that encourage inappropriate risk because they are “excessive” or “could lead to material financial loss” at the banking institution; (ii) require incentive-based compensation arrangements to adhere to three basic principles: (1) a balance between risk and reward; (2) effective risk management and controls; and (3) effective governance; and (iii) require appropriate board of directors (or committee) oversight and recordkeeping and disclosures to the banking institution’s primary regulatory agency. The nature and substance of any final action to adopt these proposed rules, and the timing of any such action, are not known at this time.

Please refer to the discussion in “Part I – Item 7 – Business – Supervision and Regulation” in the Corporation’s 2015 Form 10-K for a more complete discussion of supervision and regulatory matters and activities that affect the Corporation and its subsidiaries.

The Corporation enters into financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments may include commitments to extend credit and commitments to sell mortgage loans at fair value. As of September 30, 2016, commitments to extend credit amounted to approximately $1.1 billion, of which $631.5 million relates to credit card loans. Commercial and Financial standby letters of credit amounted to approximately $46.7 million. Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any conditions established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses. Since certain commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amount does not necessarily represent future cash requirements. For most of the commercial lines of credit, the Corporation has the option to reevaluate the agreement prior to additional disbursements. In the case of credit cards and personal lines of credit, the Corporation can cancel the unused credit facility at any time and without cause. Generally, the Corporation does not enter into interest rate lock agreements with prospective borrowers in connection with its mortgage banking activities.

As of September 30, 2016, First BanCorp. and its subsidiaries were defendants in various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. Management believes that the final disposition of these matters, to the extent not previously provided for, will not have a material adverse effect, individually or in the aggregate, on the Corporation’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.