EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Update On Effects Of Natural Disasters [Abstract]
Natural Disasters [Text Block]	NOTE 2 – EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS Two strong hurricanes affected the Corporation’s service areas during 2017. Early in September, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, affected the eastern Caribbean islands, including the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. John and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and, to a lesser extent, the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix and Puerto Rico. After hitting the eastern Caribbean, Hurricane Irma made landfall along Florida’s southwest shoreline. Two weeks after Hurricane Irma sideswiped Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria made landfall in the south east corner of Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane and exited on the northern coast at a point between the cities of Arecibo and Barceloneta after battering other islands in the Caribbean, including St. Croix. These hurricanes caused widespread property damage, flooding, power outages, water and communication services interruptions, and severely disrupted normal economic activity in all of these regions. The following summarizes the more significant financial repercussions of these natural disasters for the Corporation and for its major subsidiary, FirstBank. Credit Quality and Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses During the third quarter of 2017, the Corporation recorded a $66.5 million charge to the provision for loan and lease losses related to the establishment of qualitative reserves associated with the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. During the fourth quarter of 2017, commercial loan officers performed reviews of the hurricanes’ effect on large commercial borrowers, and the results of these reviews were factored into the determination of the allowance for loan and lease losses as of December 31, 2017. Relationship officers have continued to closely monitor the performance of hurricane-affected commercial loan customers during 2018. Information provided by these commercial loan officers and statistics on the performance of consumer and residential credits were factored into the determination of the allowance for loan and lease losses as of December 31, 2018. Although the identification and evaluation of hurricane-affected credits has been completed, management’s assessment of the hurricanes’ effect is still subject to uncertainties, both those specific to some individual customers, such as the resolution of insurance claims, and those applicable to the overall economic prospects of the hurricane-affected areas as a whole. During 2018, the Corporation recorded a net loan loss reserve release of approximately $16.9 million in connection with revised estimates associated with the effects of the hurricanes. The revised estimates were primarily attributable to updated assessments of financial performance and repayment prospects of certain individually-assessed commercial credits, updated payment patterns and probability of default credit risk analyses applied to consumer borrowers, and lower reserve requirements resulting from payments received during 2018 that reduced the balance of the consumer and residential mortgage loan portfolios outstanding on the dates of the hurricanes. The individual review of large commercial loans also resulted in downgrades in the credit risk classification of certain loans and their hurricane-related qualitative reserves of approximately $5.7 million were transferred to the general reserve and their reserves are now determined following the methodology applicable to criticized and adversely classified loans, as appropriate. In addition, consumer loan charge-offs totaling $10.9 million were taken against previously established hurricane-related qualitative reserves. These charge offs were directly linked to the performance of consumer borrowers that were subject to payment deferral programs. As of December 31, 2018, the hurricane-related qualitative allowance amounted to $19.2 million (December 31, 2017 - $55.6 million). With the future resolution of uncertainties and the ongoing collection of information on individual commercial customers and statistics on the consumer and residential loan portfolios, the loss estimate will be revised as needed. Refer to Note 9 - Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses, to the consolidated financial statements, for information about the determination of the hurricane-related qualitative reserves. Disaster Response Plan Costs, Casualty Losses and Related Insurance The Corporation incurred a variety of costs to operate in disaster response mode, and some facilities and their contents, including certain OREO properties, were damaged by the storms. The Corporation maintains insurance for casualty losses, as well as for reasonable and necessary disaster response costs and certain revenue lost through business interruption. Insurance claim receivables were established for some of the individual costs, when incurred, based on management’s understanding of the underlying coverage and when realization of the claim was deemed probable. During 2018, the Corporation reached settlement on certain insurance claims arising from the hurricanes. As a result, the Corporation received insurance proceeds of approximately $6.8 million, primarily related to impairments, repairs and maintenance costs incurred on some facilities, including certain OREO properties, $1.0 million related to recoveries of disaster response costs, and $0.8 million related to a loan receivable fully charged-off in prior periods. The insurance proceeds were recorded against incurred losses, previously-established accounts receivable, or loan recoveries, as applicable. Insurance recoveries are recorded in the same income statement caption as the incurred losses. Recoveries from insurance proceeds in excess of losses incurred, amounting to $0.5 million for 2018, were recognized as a gain from insurance proceeds and reported as part of “other non-interest income” in the statement of income. As of December 31, 2018, the Corporation still had an insurance claim receivable of $3.4 million (December 31, 2017 - $4.8 million), included as part of “other assets” in the statement of financial condition. Management also believes that there is a possibility that some gains will be recognized with respect to casualty and lost revenue claims in future periods, but this is contingent on reaching agreement on the Corporation’s claims with the insurance carriers. Liquidity Management The Corporation experienced rapid accumulation of deposits after the hurricanes in the fourth quarter of 2017 and during 2018. Total deposits as of December 31, 2018, excluding brokered CDs, increased $567.0 million from December 31, 2017 and $928.5 million since September 30, 2017. The most significant increase was in non-interest-bearing demand deposits, which grew 31%, or $561.8 million, from December 31, 2017 and 51%, or $809.3 million, since September 30, 2017. Hurricane-related factors, such as the effect of disaster relief funds and settlements of insurance claims, contributed to this growth. Although management expects the balances accumulated by deposit customers in the hurricane-affected areas to reduce over time, it is difficult to predict when and to what degree, and there may be further growth as insurance claims are resolved and additional disaster-recovery funds are distributed.

NOTE 2 – EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS

Two strong hurricanes affected the Corporation’s service areas during 2017. Early in September, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, affected the eastern Caribbean islands, including the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. John and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and, to a lesser extent, the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix and Puerto Rico. After hitting the eastern Caribbean, Hurricane Irma made landfall along Florida’s southwest shoreline. Two weeks after Hurricane Irma sideswiped Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria made landfall in the south east corner of Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane and exited on the northern coast at a point between the cities of Arecibo and Barceloneta after battering other islands in the Caribbean, including St. Croix. These hurricanes caused widespread property damage, flooding, power outages, water and communication services interruptions, and severely disrupted normal economic activity in all of these regions. The following summarizes the more significant financial repercussions of these natural disasters for the Corporation and for its major subsidiary, FirstBank.

Credit Quality and Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses

During the third quarter of 2017, the Corporation recorded a $66.5 million charge to the provision for loan and lease losses related to the establishment of qualitative reserves associated with the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. During the fourth quarter of 2017, commercial loan officers performed reviews of the hurricanes’ effect on large commercial borrowers, and the results of these reviews were factored into the determination of the allowance for loan and lease losses as of December 31, 2017.

Relationship officers have continued to closely monitor the performance of hurricane-affected commercial loan customers during 2018. Information provided by these commercial loan officers and statistics on the performance of consumer and residential credits were factored into the determination of the allowance for loan and lease losses as of December 31, 2018. Although the identification and evaluation of hurricane-affected credits has been completed, management’s assessment of the hurricanes’ effect is still subject to uncertainties, both those specific to some individual customers, such as the resolution of insurance claims, and those applicable to the overall economic prospects of the hurricane-affected areas as a whole. During 2018, the Corporation recorded a net loan loss reserve release of approximately $16.9 million in connection with revised estimates associated with the effects of the hurricanes. The revised estimates were primarily attributable to updated assessments of financial performance and repayment prospects of certain individually-assessed commercial credits, updated payment patterns and probability of default credit risk analyses applied to consumer borrowers, and lower reserve requirements resulting from payments received during 2018 that reduced the balance of the consumer and residential mortgage loan portfolios outstanding on the dates of the hurricanes. The individual review of large commercial loans also resulted in downgrades in the credit risk classification of certain loans and their hurricane-related qualitative reserves of approximately $5.7 million were transferred to the general reserve and their reserves are now determined following the methodology applicable to criticized and adversely classified loans, as appropriate. In addition, consumer loan charge-offs totaling $10.9 million were taken against previously established hurricane-related qualitative reserves. These charge offs were directly linked to the performance of consumer borrowers that were subject to payment deferral programs.

As of December 31, 2018, the hurricane-related qualitative allowance amounted to $19.2 million (December 31, 2017 - $55.6 million). With the future resolution of uncertainties and the ongoing collection of information on individual commercial customers and statistics on the consumer and residential loan portfolios, the loss estimate will be revised as needed. Refer to Note 9 - Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses, to the consolidated financial statements, for information about the determination of the hurricane-related qualitative reserves.

Disaster Response Plan Costs, Casualty Losses and Related Insurance

The Corporation incurred a variety of costs to operate in disaster response mode, and some facilities and their contents, including certain OREO properties, were damaged by the storms. The Corporation maintains insurance for casualty losses, as well as for reasonable and necessary disaster response costs and certain revenue lost through business interruption. Insurance claim receivables were established for some of the individual costs, when incurred, based on management’s understanding of the underlying coverage and when realization of the claim was deemed probable. During 2018, the Corporation reached settlement on certain insurance claims arising from the hurricanes. As a result, the Corporation received insurance proceeds of approximately $6.8 million, primarily related to impairments, repairs and maintenance costs incurred on some facilities, including certain OREO properties, $1.0 million related to recoveries of disaster response costs, and $0.8 million related to a loan receivable fully charged-off in prior periods. The insurance proceeds were recorded against incurred losses, previously-established accounts receivable, or loan recoveries, as applicable. Insurance recoveries are recorded in the same income statement caption as the incurred losses. Recoveries from insurance proceeds in excess of losses incurred, amounting to $0.5 million for 2018, were recognized as a gain from insurance proceeds and reported as part of “other non-interest income” in the statement of income. As of December 31, 2018, the Corporation still had an insurance claim receivable of $3.4 million (December 31, 2017 - $4.8 million), included as part of “other assets” in the statement of financial condition. Management also believes that there is a possibility that some gains will be recognized with respect to casualty and lost revenue claims in future periods, but this is contingent on reaching agreement on the Corporation’s claims with the insurance carriers.

Liquidity Management

The Corporation experienced rapid accumulation of deposits after the hurricanes in the fourth quarter of 2017 and during 2018. Total deposits as of December 31, 2018, excluding brokered CDs, increased $567.0 million from December 31, 2017 and $928.5 million since September 30, 2017. The most significant increase was in non-interest-bearing demand deposits, which grew 31%, or $561.8 million, from December 31, 2017 and 51%, or $809.3 million, since September 30, 2017. Hurricane-related factors, such as the effect of disaster relief funds and settlements of insurance claims, contributed to this growth. Although management expects the balances accumulated by deposit customers in the hurricane-affected areas to reduce over time, it is difficult to predict when and to what degree, and there may be further growth as insurance claims are resolved and additional disaster-recovery funds are distributed.