BASIS OF PRESENTATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

BASIS OFPRESENTATION

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 Company’s 2012 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, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2013.

Certain reclassifications of 2012 amounts have been made to conform to the 2013 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.

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 16 to the consolidated financial statements. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

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; 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, 2013, except FB Holdings, which is 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, including Mr. Michael Dierberg, Vice Chairman of the Company, as further described in Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements. FB Holdings is included in the consolidated financial statements and the noncontrolling ownership interest is 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 income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest in subsidiary” in the consolidated statements of operations.