Retirement Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Retirement Plans [Abstract]

Retirement Plans

10. Retirement Plans

Net periodic benefits cost includes the following components for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010:

	Pension Benefits						Other Post-retirement Benefits
	Three Months Ended September 30,
	2011			2010			2011			2010
	(In thousands)
Service cost	$	1,172		$	875		$	34		$	31
Interest cost		1,363			1,308			153			139
Expected return on plan assets		(1,372	)		(1,162	)		—			—
Amortization of prior service cost		—			—			(13	)		(14	)
Amortization of net loss		586			571			135			76
Amortization of transition obligation		—			—			1			2
Net periodic benefit cost	$	1,749		$	1,592		$	310		$	234
	Pension Benefits						Other Post-retirement Benefits
	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2011			2010			2011			2010
	(In thousands)
Service cost	$	3,517		$	2,625		$	103		$	93
Interest cost		4,089			3,925			458			417
Expected return on plan assets		(4,117	)		(3,485	)		—			—
Amortization of prior service cost		—			—			(40	)		(40	)
Amortization of net loss		1,757			1,711			404			227
Amortization of transition obligation		—			—			4			4
Net periodic benefit cost	$	5,246		$	4,776		$	929		$	701

The Company anticipates that it will contribute $10.0 million to its pension plan and approximately $1.8 million to its post-retirement benefits in 2011. During the first nine months of 2011, the Company contributed approximately $7.8 million to its pension plan and approximately $1.0 million for post-retirement benefits.

The Company is in the process reviewing retirement plans for future changes and to make a determination regarding final benifit structure. The Whitney pension plan and post-retirement plan has been closed to new participants since 2008 and remains closed. The other Whitney plans continue to operate as before and will admit new participants if those participants meet the eligibility conditions and perform services at a legacy Whitney location. The merger document requires the defined benefit pension plan to remain in place for a period of 12 to 18 months post-merger.

Certain legacy Whitney employees are covered by a noncontributory qualified defined benefit pension plan. The benefits were based on an employee's total years of service and his or her highest consecutive five-year level of compensation during the final ten years of employment. Contributions were made in amounts sufficient to meet funding requirements set forth in federal employee benefit and tax laws plus such additional amounts as the Company determined to be appropriate. Whitney also has an unfunded nonqualified defined benefit pension plan that provided retirement benefits to designated executive officers. These benefits are calculated using the qualified plan's formula, but without applying the restrictions imposed on qualified plans by certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Benefits that become payable under the nonqualified plan supplement amounts paid from the qualified plan.

Legacy Whitney sponsors an employee savings plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code that covered substantially all full-time employees. Tax law imposed limits on total annual participant savings. Participants are fully vested in their savings and in the matching Company contribution at all times. Concurrent with the defined-benefit plan amendments in late 2008, the Board also approved amendments to the employee savings plan. These amendments authorized the Company to make discretionary profit sharing contributions, beginning in 2009, on behalf of participants in the savings plan who are either (a) ineligible to participate in the qualified defined-benefit plan or (b) subject to the freeze in benefit accruals under the defined-benefit plan. The discretionary profit sharing contribution for a plan year is up to 4% of the participants' eligible compensation for such year and is allocated only to participants who were employed on the first day of the plan year and at year end. Participants must have completed three years of service to become vested in the Company's contributions subject to earlier vesting in the case of retirement, death or disability. The Whitney board amended the plan shortly prior to the merger to provide that Whitney employees terminated in connection with the merger would also be vested in any unvested Company contributions.

Net periodic benefits cost for the Whitney-sponsored plan includes the following components from acquisition date of June 4, 2011 through September 30, 2011:

	Pension Benefits			Other Post-retirement Benefits
	(In thousands)
Service cost	$	2,159		$	—
Interest cost		4,058			274
Expected return on plan assets		(5,501	)		—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	716		$	274

The retirement and restoration plans' projected benefit obligation (PBO) at acquisition were $217.0 million and $14.4 million respectively. These were calculated based on a discount rate of 5.35% at June 4, 2011. Plan assets for these obligations were $223.5 million for the retirement plan and $0 for the restoration plan at June 4, 2011.