First Bancorp Cites SEC Inquiry

First Bancorp, San Juan, Puerto Rico, has reported receiving notification of an informal inquiry into the company by the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its accounting for certain mortgage loans, among other things.The company noted that it had recently disclosed a review by its Audit Committee of purchases of mortgage loans originated by other financial institutions. The accounting issues being reviewed include whether the company should have recorded such transactions as loans by the company to the sellers rather than purchases of mortgage loans, and whether any transactions resulted in derivatives requiring the application of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133. First Bancorp said its Audit Committee has retained two law firms and a forensic accounting firm to assist in the review. The company can be found online at http://www.firstbankpr.com.