BASIS OF PRESENTATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The Consolidated Financial Statements of First Financial Bancorp. (First Financial or the Company), a bank holding company, principally serving Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, include the accounts and operations of First Financial and its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Financial Bank, N.A. (First Financial Bank or the Bank).  All significant intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated in consolidation.  Certain reclassifications of prior periods' amounts, including covered loans and the related allowance for loan and lease losses in the Consolidated Balance Sheets have been made to conform to current year presentation. Such reclassifications had no effect on net earnings.

Effective October 1, 2014, the five-year loss sharing coverage period for non-single family assets expired and the majority of the Company’s formerly covered assets were no longer subject to FDIC loss sharing protection. As a result of this expiration, and the insignificant balance of assets that remain subject to FDIC loss sharing protection through the October 1, 2019 relative to the Company’s total assets, all covered loans and the related allowance for loan and lease losses-covered, as well as provision for covered loan and lease losses, have been reclassified in the Consolidated Financial Statements, and all credit quality metrics have been updated to include covered and formerly covered assets.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) requires management to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the amounts reported in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying Notes.  These estimates, assumptions and judgments are inherently subjective and may be susceptible to significant change.  Actual realized amounts could differ materially from these estimates.  

These interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X, and serve to update the First Financial Bancorp. Annual Report on Form 10-K (Form 10-K) for the year ended December 31, 2014.  These interim financial statements may not include all information and notes necessary to constitute a complete set of financial statements under GAAP applicable to annual periods and it is suggested that these interim statements be read in conjunction with the Form 10-K.  Management believes these unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments of a normal recurring nature which are necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented.  The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other interim period.  The Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2014 has been derived from the audited financial statements in the Company’s 2014 Form 10-K.