BASIS OF PRESENTATION	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]	NOTE 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION The consolidated financial statements of First Banks, Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) are unaudited and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements contained in the 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and conform to predominant practices within the banking industry. Management of the Company has made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities to prepare the consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations for the interim periods presented herein, have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2011. Principles of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the parent company and its subsidiaries, giving effect to the noncontrolling interest in subsidiary, as more fully described below and in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Certain reclassifications of 2010 amounts have been made to conform to the 2011 presentation. All financial information is reported on a continuing operations basis, unless otherwise noted. See Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements for a discussion regarding discontinued operations. The Company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary bank holding company, The San Francisco Company (SFC), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and SFC’s wholly owned subsidiary bank, First Bank, also headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. First Bank operates through its branch banking offices and subsidiaries: First Bank Business Capital, Inc.; FB Holdings, LLC (FB Holdings); Small Business Loan Source LLC (SBLS LLC); ILSIS, Inc.; FBIN, Inc.; SBRHC, Inc.; HVIIHC, Inc.; FBSA Missouri, Inc.; FBSA California, Inc.; NT Resolution Corporation; and LC Resolution Corporation. All of the subsidiaries are wholly owned as of September 30, 2011, except FB Holdings, which was 53.23% owned by First Bank and 46.77% owned by First Capital America, Inc. (FCA), a corporation owned and operated by the Company’s Chairman of the Board and members of his immediate family, as further described in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements. FB Holdings is included in the consolidated financial statements with the noncontrolling ownership interest reported as a component of stockholders’ equity in the consolidated balance sheets as “noncontrolling interest in subsidiary” and the earnings or loss, net of tax, attributable to the noncontrolling ownership interest, is reported as “net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest in subsidiary” in the consolidated statements of operations. Regulatory Agreements and Other Matters. On March 24, 2010, the Company, SFC and First Bank entered into a Written Agreement (Agreement) with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRB) requiring the Company and First Bank to take certain steps intended to improve their overall financial condition. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company prepared and filed with the FRB a number of specific plans designed to strengthen and/or address the following matters: (i) board oversight over the management and operations of the Company and First Bank; (ii) credit risk management practices; (iii) lending and credit administration policies and procedures; (iv) asset improvement; (v) capital; (vi) earnings and overall financial condition; and (vii) liquidity and funds management. The Agreement requires, among other things, that the Company and First Bank obtain prior approval from the FRB in order to pay dividends. In addition, the Company must obtain prior approval from the FRB to: (i) take any other form of payment from First Bank representing a reduction in capital of First Bank; (ii) make any distributions of interest, principal or other sums on junior subordinated debentures or trust preferred securities; (iii) incur, increase or guarantee any debt; or (iv) purchase or redeem any shares of the Company’s stock. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the Company and First Bank submitted a written plan to the FRB to maintain sufficient capital at the Company, on a consolidated basis, and at First Bank, on a standalone basis. In addition, the Agreement also provides that the Company and First Bank must notify the FRB if the risk-based capital ratios of either entity fall below those set forth in the capital plans that were accepted by the FRB, and specifically if First Bank falls below the criteria for being well capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action. The Company must also notify the FRB before appointing any new directors or senior executive officers or changing the responsibilities of any senior executive officer position. The Agreement also requires the Company and First Bank to comply with certain restrictions regarding indemnification and severance payments. The Agreement is specifically enforceable by the FRB in court. The Company and First Bank must furnish periodic progress reports to the FRB regarding compliance with the Agreement. As of the date of this filing, the Company and First Bank have provided progress reports and other reports, as required under the Agreement. It is likely that the Company and First Bank may receive additional requests from the FRB regarding compliance with the Agreement, which may include, but are not limited to, updates and modifications to the Company’s Asset Quality Improvement, Profit Improvement and Capital Plans. Management intends to respond promptly to any such requests. The Agreement will remain in effect until stayed, modified, terminated or suspended by the FRB. The description of the Agreement above represents a summary and is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the Agreement which is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.19 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 25, 2010. Prior to entering into the Agreement on March 24, 2010, the Company and First Bank had entered into a memorandum of understanding and an informal agreement, respectively, with the FRB and the State of Missouri Division of Finance (MDOF). Each of the agreements were characterized by regulatory authorities as informal actions that were neither published nor made publicly available by the agencies and are used when circumstances warrant a milder form of action than a formal supervisory action, such as a written agreement or cease and desist order. The informal agreement with the MDOF is still in place and there have not been any modifications thereto since its inception in September 2008. Under the terms of the prior memorandum of understanding with the FRB, the Company agreed, among other things, to provide certain information to the FRB including, but not limited to, financial performance updates, notice of plans to materially change its fundamental business and notice to issue trust preferred securities or raise additional equity capital. In addition, the Company agreed not to pay any dividends on its common or preferred stock or make any distributions of interest or other sums on its trust preferred securities without the prior approval of the FRB. First Bank, under its informal agreement with the MDOF and the FRB, agreed to, among other things, prepare and submit plans and reports to the agencies regarding certain matters including, but not limited to, the performance of First Bank’s loan portfolio. In addition, First Bank agreed not to declare or pay any dividends or make certain other payments without the prior consent of the MDOF and the FRB and to maintain a Tier 1 capital to total assets ratio of no less than 7.00%. As further described in Note 9 to the consolidated financial statements, First Bank’s Tier 1 capital to total assets ratio was 8.17% at September 30, 2011. While the Company and First Bank intend to take such actions as may be necessary to comply with the requirements of the Agreement with the FRB and informal agreement with the MDOF, there can be no assurance that the Company and First Bank will be able to comply fully with the requirements of the Agreement or that First Bank will be able to comply fully with the provisions of the informal agreement, that compliance with the Agreement and the informal agreement will not be more time consuming or more expensive than anticipated, that compliance with the Agreement and the informal agreement will enable the Company and First Bank to resume profitable operations, or that efforts to comply with the Agreement and the informal agreement will not have adverse effects on the operations and financial condition of the Company or First Bank. If the Company or First Bank is unable to comply with the terms of the Agreement or the informal agreement, respectively, the Company and First Bank could become subject to various requirements limiting the ability to develop new business lines, mandating additional capital, and/or requiring the sale of certain assets and liabilities. Failure of the Company and First Bank to meet these conditions could lead to further enforcement action by the regulatory agencies. The terms of any such additional regulatory actions, orders or agreements could have a materially adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition or results of operations. On August 10, 2009, the Company announced the deferral of its regularly scheduled interest payments on its outstanding junior subordinated notes relating to its $345.0 million of trust preferred securities beginning with the regularly scheduled quarterly interest payments that would otherwise have been made in September and October 2009, as further described in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements. During the deferral period, the Company may not, among other things and with limited exceptions, pay cash dividends on or repurchase its common stock or preferred stock or make any payment on outstanding debt obligations that rank equally with or junior to the junior subordinated notes. Accordingly, the Company also suspended the payment of cash dividends on its outstanding common stock and preferred stock beginning with the regularly scheduled quarterly dividend payments on the preferred stock that would otherwise have been made in August and September 2009, as further described in Note 13 to the consolidated financial statements. In conjunction with this election, the Company suspended the declaration of dividends on its Class A and Class B preferred stock, but continues to declare and accumulate dividends on its Class C Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (Class C Preferred Stock) and Class D Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (Class D Preferred Stock). As a result of the Company’s deferral of dividends on its Class C and Class D preferred stock to the United States Department of the Treasury (U.S. Treasury) for six quarters, the U.S. Treasury had the right to elect two directors to the Company’s Board. On July 13, 2011, the U.S. Treasury elected two members to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately. Capital Plan. As further described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, on August 10, 2009, the Company announced the adoption of a Capital Optimization Plan (Capital Plan) designed to improve its regulatory capital ratios and financial performance through certain divestiture activities, asset reductions and expense reductions. The Capital Plan was adopted in order to, among other things, preserve and enhance the Company’s risk-based capital. The successful completion of all or any portion of the Capital Plan is not assured, and no assurance can be made that the Capital Plan will not be materially modified in the future. The decision to implement the Capital Plan reflects the adverse effect that the severe downturn in the commercial and residential real estate markets has had on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. If the Company is not able to complete substantially all of the Capital Plan, its business, financial condition, including regulatory capital ratios, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected and its ability to withstand continued adverse economic conditions could be threatened.

NOTE 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The consolidated financial statements of First Banks, Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) are unaudited and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements contained in the 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and conform to predominant practices within the banking industry. Management of the Company has made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities to prepare the consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations for the interim periods presented herein, have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2011.

Principles of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the parent company and its subsidiaries, giving effect to the noncontrolling interest in subsidiary, as more fully described below and in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Certain reclassifications of 2010 amounts have been made to conform to the 2011 presentation.

All financial information is reported on a continuing operations basis, unless otherwise noted. See Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements for a discussion regarding discontinued operations.

The Company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary bank holding company, The San Francisco Company (SFC), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and SFC’s wholly owned subsidiary bank, First Bank, also headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. First Bank operates through its branch banking offices and subsidiaries: First Bank Business Capital, Inc.; FB Holdings, LLC (FB Holdings); Small Business Loan Source LLC (SBLS LLC); ILSIS, Inc.; FBIN, Inc.; SBRHC, Inc.; HVIIHC, Inc.; FBSA Missouri, Inc.; FBSA California, Inc.; NT Resolution Corporation; and LC Resolution Corporation. All of the subsidiaries are wholly owned as of September 30, 2011, except FB Holdings, which was 53.23% owned by First Bank and 46.77% owned by First Capital America, Inc. (FCA), a corporation owned and operated by the Company’s Chairman of the Board and members of his immediate family, as further described in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements. FB Holdings is included in the consolidated financial statements with the noncontrolling ownership interest reported as a component of stockholders’ equity in the consolidated balance sheets as “noncontrolling interest in subsidiary” and the earnings or loss, net of tax, attributable to the noncontrolling ownership interest, is reported as “net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest in subsidiary” in the consolidated statements of operations.

Regulatory Agreements and Other Matters. On March 24, 2010, the Company, SFC and First Bank entered into a Written Agreement (Agreement) with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRB) requiring the Company and First Bank to take certain steps intended to improve their overall financial condition. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company prepared and filed with the FRB a number of specific plans designed to strengthen and/or address the following matters: (i) board oversight over the management and operations of the Company and First Bank; (ii) credit risk management practices; (iii) lending and credit administration policies and procedures; (iv) asset improvement; (v) capital; (vi) earnings and overall financial condition; and (vii) liquidity and funds management.

The Agreement requires, among other things, that the Company and First Bank obtain prior approval from the FRB in order to pay dividends. In addition, the Company must obtain prior approval from the FRB to: (i) take any other form of payment from First Bank representing a reduction in capital of First Bank; (ii) make any distributions of interest, principal or other sums on junior subordinated debentures or trust preferred securities; (iii) incur, increase or guarantee any debt; or (iv) purchase or redeem any shares of the Company’s stock. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the Company and First Bank submitted a written plan to the FRB to maintain sufficient capital at the Company, on a consolidated basis, and at First Bank, on a standalone basis. In addition, the Agreement also provides that the Company and First Bank must notify the FRB if the risk-based capital ratios of either entity fall below those set forth in the capital plans that were accepted by the FRB, and specifically if First Bank falls below the criteria for being well capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action. The Company must also notify the FRB before appointing any new directors or senior executive officers or changing the responsibilities of any senior executive officer position. The Agreement also requires the Company and First Bank to comply with certain restrictions regarding indemnification and severance payments. The Agreement is specifically enforceable by the FRB in court.

The Company and First Bank must furnish periodic progress reports to the FRB regarding compliance with the Agreement. As of the date of this filing, the Company and First Bank have provided progress reports and other reports, as required under the Agreement. It is likely that the Company and First Bank may receive additional requests from the FRB regarding compliance with the Agreement, which may include, but are not limited to, updates and modifications to the Company’s Asset Quality Improvement, Profit Improvement and Capital Plans. Management intends to respond promptly to any such requests. The Agreement will remain in effect until stayed, modified, terminated or suspended by the FRB.

The description of the Agreement above represents a summary and is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the Agreement which is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.19 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 25, 2010.

Prior to entering into the Agreement on March 24, 2010, the Company and First Bank had entered into a memorandum of understanding and an informal agreement, respectively, with the FRB and the State of Missouri Division of Finance (MDOF). Each of the agreements were characterized by regulatory authorities as informal actions that were neither published nor made publicly available by the agencies and are used when circumstances warrant a milder form of action than a formal supervisory action, such as a written agreement or cease and desist order. The informal agreement with the MDOF is still in place and there have not been any modifications thereto since its inception in September 2008.

Under the terms of the prior memorandum of understanding with the FRB, the Company agreed, among other things, to provide certain information to the FRB including, but not limited to, financial performance updates, notice of plans to materially change its fundamental business and notice to issue trust preferred securities or raise additional equity capital. In addition, the Company agreed not to pay any dividends on its common or preferred stock or make any distributions of interest or other sums on its trust preferred securities without the prior approval of the FRB.

First Bank, under its informal agreement with the MDOF and the FRB, agreed to, among other things, prepare and submit plans and reports to the agencies regarding certain matters including, but not limited to, the performance of First Bank’s loan portfolio. In addition, First Bank agreed not to declare or pay any dividends or make certain other payments without the prior consent of the MDOF and the FRB and to maintain a Tier 1 capital to total assets ratio of no less than 7.00%. As further described in Note 9 to the consolidated financial statements, First Bank’s Tier 1 capital to total assets ratio was 8.17% at September 30, 2011.

While the Company and First Bank intend to take such actions as may be necessary to comply with the requirements of the Agreement with the FRB and informal agreement with the MDOF, there can be no assurance that the Company and First Bank will be able to comply fully with the requirements of the Agreement or that First Bank will be able to comply fully with the provisions of the informal agreement, that compliance with the Agreement and the informal agreement will not be more time consuming or more expensive than anticipated, that compliance with the Agreement and the informal agreement will enable the Company and First Bank to resume profitable operations, or that efforts to comply with the Agreement and the informal agreement will not have adverse effects on the operations and financial condition of the Company or First Bank. If the Company or First Bank is unable to comply with the terms of the Agreement or the informal agreement, respectively, the Company and First Bank could become subject to various requirements limiting the ability to develop new business lines, mandating additional capital, and/or requiring the sale of certain assets and liabilities. Failure of the Company and First Bank to meet these conditions could lead to further enforcement action by the regulatory agencies. The terms of any such additional regulatory actions, orders or agreements could have a materially adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition or results of operations.

On August 10, 2009, the Company announced the deferral of its regularly scheduled interest payments on its outstanding junior subordinated notes relating to its $345.0 million of trust preferred securities beginning with the regularly scheduled quarterly interest payments that would otherwise have been made in September and October 2009, as further described in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements. During the deferral period, the Company may not, among other things and with limited exceptions, pay cash dividends on or repurchase its common stock or preferred stock or make any payment on outstanding debt obligations that rank equally with or junior to the junior subordinated notes. Accordingly, the Company also suspended the payment of cash dividends on its outstanding common stock and preferred stock beginning with the regularly scheduled quarterly dividend payments on the preferred stock that would otherwise have been made in August and September 2009, as further described in Note 13 to the consolidated financial statements. In conjunction with this election, the Company suspended the declaration of dividends on its Class A and Class B preferred stock, but continues to declare and accumulate dividends on its Class C Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (Class C Preferred Stock) and Class D Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock (Class D Preferred Stock). As a result of the Company’s deferral of dividends on its Class C and Class D preferred stock to the United States Department of the Treasury (U.S. Treasury) for six quarters, the U.S. Treasury had the right to elect two directors to the Company’s Board. On July 13, 2011, the U.S. Treasury elected two members to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Capital Plan. As further described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, on August 10, 2009, the Company announced the adoption of a Capital Optimization Plan (Capital Plan) designed to improve its regulatory capital ratios and financial performance through certain divestiture activities, asset reductions and expense reductions. The Capital Plan was adopted in order to, among other things, preserve and enhance the Company’s risk-based capital.

The successful completion of all or any portion of the Capital Plan is not assured, and no assurance can be made that the Capital Plan will not be materially modified in the future. The decision to implement the Capital Plan reflects the adverse effect that the severe downturn in the commercial and residential real estate markets has had on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. If the Company is not able to complete substantially all of the Capital Plan, its business, financial condition, including regulatory capital ratios, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected and its ability to withstand continued adverse economic conditions could be threatened.