Employee Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

Note 14. Employee Benefit Plans

Defined Contribution Plan

The Company has a profit-sharing retirement plan with an Internal Revenue Code Section 401(k) feature covering eligible employees. Employer contributions are made annually into a trust fund and are allocated to participants based on their salaries. The profit sharing contribution requirement is based on a percentage of annual operating income subject to a percentage of salary cap. Eligible employees may contribute up to 50 percent of their salary to the 401(k) plan, but not more than the maximum allowed under Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regulations. The Company matches 50 percent of the first 6 percent of covered compensation. The Company recorded total profit sharing and matching contribution expense of $4.7 million and $4.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Deferred Compensation Plan

The Company offers a deferred compensation plan for eligible employees and non-employee directors. Participants under the employee plan may make an annual irrevocable election to defer a portion of base salary and up to 100 percent of commission and incentive compensation while employed with the Company. Participants under the non-employee director plan also may make an annual irrevocable election to defer all or part of annual retainers, annual awards, committee chair retainers and meeting fees (collectively, “directors’ fees”) until board service with the Company ceases. The deferred compensation plans are nonqualified plans under IRS regulations. Deferrals are made on a pretax basis and are allocated among the investment options available under the plans as directed by the plan participants. The Company funds plan benefits through the purchase of life insurance policies which are recorded in Other assets on the consolidated balance sheets. Participant deferrals are recorded in Other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. Employee salaries and non-employee directors’ fees deferred under the plan are charged to Salaries and employee benefits and Other operating expense, respectively, on the consolidated statements of income. Earnings on plan assets, net of benefits payable to plan participants, are reported in Salaries and employee benefits on the consolidated statements of income, and was $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011.

Other Plans

The Company administers a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”) for one of its executive officers. On March 14, 2012, the SERP was amended. In exchange for cancellation of the executive officer’s rights to receive supplemental retirement benefits under the SERP, the executive officer would receive fully vested interests in a deferred compensation stock fund under the amended plan. The present value of the accumulated SERP benefit under the amended plan at March 14, 2012 was deemed to be invested in the deferred compensation stock fund, with the number of units being determined by the closing price of the Company’s stock on March 14, 2012. The benefit was converted to 167,423 units in the deferred compensation stock fund at March 14, 2012. Distributions to the executive officer from the stock fund will be made solely in Company stock upon termination of employment. As a result of this conversion, the Company reversed its $8.3 million pension liability related to the SERP, recorded the fully vested interests in the deferred compensation stock fund in equity for the same amount, and recognized expense of $1.7 million in the consolidated statements of income for the three months ended March 31, 2012. The Company recognized total expense related to this SERP of $1.9 million and $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

The Company also has a SERP covering three former executives of Pacific Bank, which the Company acquired in 2000. As of March 31, 2012, there was an unfunded pension liability for this SERP of $2.3 million. Expense for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 was insignificant.