EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

21. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

The Company sponsors a defined contribution plan for the benefit of its employees. The Company’s contributions to the plan are determined annually by the Board of Directors in accordance with plan requirements. For tax purposes, eligible participants may contribute up to the dollar limit imposed by the Internal Revenue Service. For plan years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, the Company contributed $3.5 million, $3.0 million and $2.0 million, respectively.

During 2002, the Company adopted a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”). The SERP meets the definition of a pension plan per ASC 715-30, Compensation—Retirement Benefits – Defined Benefit Plans—Pension, pursuant to which the Company will pay supplemental pension benefits to certain executive officers designated by the Board of Directors upon retirement based upon the officers’ years of service and compensation. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010, $0.8 million, $1.6 million and $2.6 million, respectively, of benefits were accrued and expensed. The SERP is funded through life insurance contracts on the participating officers, though the plan does not require formal funding. At December 31, 2012 and 2011, the life insurance contracts related to the SERP had an aggregate cash surrender value of $44.4 million and $43.3 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2012 and 2011, the vested benefit obligation under the SERP was less than the cash surrender value of the life insurance contracts respectively. In 2011, one executive received the elected lump sum payment of $11.2 million, terminating their SERP benefits.