EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]

Note 21 – Employee Benefits

401(k) Plan. The Company’s 401(k) plan is a self-administered savings and incentive plan covering substantially all employees. Employer match contributions are determined annually under the plan by the Company’s Board of Directors. Employee contributions were limited to $16,500 of gross compensation for 2011. Total employer contributions under the plan were $2.3 million, zero and $932,000 for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. The plan assets are held and managed under a trust agreement with First Bank’s trust department.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan. The Company’s nonqualified deferred compensation plan (the NQDC Plan), which covers a select group of employees, is administered by an independent third party. The NQDC Plan is exempt from the participation, vesting, funding and fiduciary requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Although the NQDC Plan allows the Company to credit the accounts of any participant with discretionary contributions, no such discretionary contributions have been made since the NQDC Plan’s inception. Participants may contribute from 1% to 25% of their salary and up to 100% of their bonuses on a pre-tax basis. The Company elected to suspend the availability of deferrals under the NQDC Plan for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 but reinstated the availability of such deferrals beginning in January 2012.

Balances outstanding under the NQDC Plan, which are reflected in accrued and other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets, were $6.5 million and $7.8 million at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The Company recognized a decrease in salaries and employee benefits expense related to the NQDC Plan of $64,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011 resulting from net losses incurred by participants on the underlying investments in the plan. The Company recognized salaries and employee benefits expense related to the NQDC Plan of $685,000 and $1.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively, resulting from net earnings incurred by participants on the underlying investments in the plan.

Noncontributory Defined Benefit Pension Plan. The Company has a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan covering certain current and former employees of a bank holding company acquired by the Company in 1994 and subsequently merged with and into the Company on December 31, 2002. The Company discontinued the accumulation of benefits under the Plan in 1994, and as such, there is no longer any service cost being accrued by Plan participants.

A summary of the Plan’s change in the projected benefit obligation and change in the fair value of Plan assets for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 and amounts recognized in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2011 and 2010 is as follows:

	2011			2010
	(dollars expressed in thousands)
Change in Projected Benefit Obligation:
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	12,334		12,124
Interest cost		587		628
Actuarial loss		970		396
Benefit payments		(1,424	)	(814	)
Projected benefit obligation at end of year	$	12,467		12,334
Change in Fair Value of Plan Assets:
Fair value at beginning of year	$	9,210		8,994
Actual return on plan assets		774		616
Employer contributions		288		414
Benefit payments		(1,424	)	(814	)
Fair value at end of year	$	8,848		9,210
Amount Recognized in Consolidated Balance Sheets:
Accrued pension liability	$	3,619		3,124
Amounts Recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss:
Loss	$	(4,370	)	(3,658	)
Deferred tax liability		1,737		1,438
Loss, net of tax	$	(2,633	)	(2,220	)

The Company’s accrued pension liability of $3.6 million and $3.1 million at December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, represents the difference between the fair value of the Plan assets and the projected benefit obligation of the Plan, and is reflected in accrued expenses and other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

The following table reflects the weighted average assumptions used to determine the net periodic benefit cost for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010:

	2011		2010
Discount rate	4.93	%	5.36	%
Expected long-term rate of return on Plan assets	7.00		7.00

The discount rate used to determine benefit obligations was 4.28% and 4.93% for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

A summary of the components of net periodic benefit cost for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 is as follows:

	2011			2010
	(dollars expressed in thousands)
Interest cost	$	587		628
Expected return on Plan assets		(625	)	(613	)
Amortization of net actuarial loss		109		447
Net periodic benefit cost	$	71		462

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) consist of:

	2011			2010
	(dollars expressed in thousands)
Net loss	$	821		393
Amortization of net actuarial loss		(109	)	(447	)
Total recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	$	712		(54	)

The Plan’s investment strategy is focused on maximizing asset returns. The target allocations for Plan assets are 52% fixed income, 40% equity securities and 8% cash. Asset allocations can fluctuate between acceptable ranges commensurate with market volatility. Debt securities include U.S. Treasuries, investment-grade corporate bonds of companies from diversified industries and mortgage-backed securities. Equity securities primarily include investments in large capitalization companies located in the United States.

The fair value of Plan assets at December 31, 2011 and 2010 was comprised of the following:

	Fair Value Measurements
	Level 1		Level 2	Level 3	Fair Value
	(dollars expressed in thousands)
Plan Assets – December 31, 2011:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	287	—	—	287
Equity securities		—	3,635	—	3,635
Debt securities		—	4,463	—	4,463
Other		—	463	—	463
Total	$	287	8,561	—	8,848
Plan Assets – December 31, 2010:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	620	—	—	620
Equity securities		—	4,355	—	4,355
Debt securities		—	3,797	—	3,797
Other		—	438	—	438
Total	$	620	8,590	—	9,210

Equity and debt securities included in Level 1 are valued using quoted market prices. Where quoted market prices are unavailable, the fair value of equity and debt securities included in Level 2 is based on quoted market prices of comparable instruments obtained from independent pricing vendors based on recent trading activity and other relevant information.

The Company expects to contribute $740,000 to the Plan in 2012. Pension benefit payments are expected to be paid to Plan participants by the Plan as follows:

	(dollars expressed in
	thousands)
Year ending December 31:
2012	$	851
2013		840
2014		833
2015		845
2016		859
2017 – 2021		4,315