REGULATORY CAPITAL

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Banking and Thrift [Abstract]

Regulatory Capital Requirements under Banking Regulations [Text Block]

NOTE 11–REGULATORY CAPITAL

The Company and First Bank are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by the federal and state banking agencies. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the operations and financial condition of the Company and First Bank. Under these capital requirements, the Company and First Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. Capital amounts and classifications are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors.

Quantitative measures established by regulation to ensure capital adequacy require the Company and First Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios of total and Tier 1 capital (as defined in the regulations) to risk-weighted assets, and of Tier 1 capital to average assets.

The Company did not meet the minimum regulatory capital standards established for bank holding companies by the Federal Reserve at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011. The Company must maintain minimum total risk-based, Tier 1 risk-based and Tier 1 leverage ratios as set forth in the table below in order to meet the minimum capital adequacy standards.

First Bank was categorized as well capitalized at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 under the prompt corrective action provisions of the regulatory capital standards. First Bank must maintain minimum total risk-based, Tier 1 risk-based and Tier 1 leverage ratios as set forth in the table below in order to be categorized as well capitalized. In addition, First Bank is currently required to maintain its Tier 1 capital to total assets ratio at no less than 7.00% in accordance with the provisions of its informal agreement entered into with the MDOF, as further described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements. First Bank’s Tier 1 capital to total assets ratio of 8.45% and 8.37% at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively, exceeded the 7.00% minimum level required under the terms of the informal agreement with the MDOF.

As further described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, on August 10, 2009, the Company announced the adoption of its Capital Plan, in order to, among other things, preserve the Company’s risk-based capital levels. 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. If the Company is not able to complete substantially all of the Capital Plan, its regulatory capital ratios may be materially and adversely affected and its ability to withstand continued adverse economic conditions could be threatened.

At March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company and First Bank’s required and actual capital ratios were as follows:

											To be Well
											Capitalized
											Under
											Prompt
	Actual								For Capital		Corrective
	March 31, 2012					December 31, 2011			Adequacy		Action
	Amount		Ratio			Amount	Ratio		Purposes		Provisions
	(dollars expressed in thousands)
Total capital (to risk-weighted assets):
First Banks, Inc.	$	79,886	2.09	%	$	73,830	1.88	%	8.0	%	N/A
First Bank		598,224	15.63			588,860	14.98		8.0		10.0	%
Tier 1 capital (to risk-weighted assets):
First Banks, Inc.		39,943	1.04			36,915	0.94		4.0		N/A
First Bank		549,324	14.35			538,592	13.70		4.0		6.0
Tier 1 capital (to average assets):
First Banks, Inc.		39,943	0.62			36,915	0.56		4.0		N/A
First Bank		549,324	8.54			538,592	8.19		4.0		5.0

As noted above, the Company’s capital ratios are below the minimum regulatory capital standards established for bank holding companies, and therefore, the Company could be subject to additional actions by regulators that could have a direct material effect on the operations and financial condition of the Company and First Bank.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 restricts new issuances of trust preferred securities from being included as Tier 1 capital for all bank holding companies.