First BanCorp.

What does First BanCorp own?

First BanCorp owns FirstBank Puerto Rico, its commercial banking subsidiary, plus insurance and related financial services operations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Florida.

Is First BanCorp publicly traded?

Yes. First BanCorp trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FBP, one of the few Puerto Rico-based companies with a major U.S. exchange listing.

Who founded First BanCorp?

The bank was founded in 1948 in San Juan as First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Puerto Rico by local business interests, becoming Puerto Rico's first savings and loan institution.

Where is First BanCorp headquartered?

First BanCorp is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it has been based since its 1948 founding.

Is FirstBank Puerto Rico the same as FirstBank Colorado?

No. FirstBank Puerto Rico is a subsidiary of First BanCorp serving Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. FirstBank Colorado was a separate institution acquired by PNC in January 2026. The two share only a similar name.

Who owns First BanCorp?

First BanCorp is owned by public shareholders. Aurelio Aleman-Bermudez has served as president and CEO since 2009, the longest-tenured leader among major Puerto Rican institutions.

How large is First BanCorp?

The company holds more than $19 billion in assets and operates across Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Florida, making it the largest banking institution headquartered in Puerto Rico.

The bank was founded in 1948 in San Juan as Puerto Rico's first savings and loan institution, originally named First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Puerto Rico. It was created at the dawn of Puerto Rico's industrialization era to provide mortgage lending and savings services to a modernizing island economy.

It converted to a commercial bank charter and adopted the FirstBank name, growing through the second half of the twentieth century into the island's leading locally based institution. The holding company, First BanCorp., was established to house the bank and its growing financial services operations.

The company expanded beyond Puerto Rico into the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and built a Florida operation serving the Puerto Rican diaspora and broader mainland market. The 2000s brought significant challenges: Puerto Rico's prolonged fiscal crisis, the island's 2016 debt default, and Hurricane Maria in 2017 tested every institution on the island.

Under CEO Aurelio Aleman-Bermudez, who took over in 2009 during the global financial crisis, the company navigated the island's fiscal collapse and recovered. It emerged from the crisis period with more than $19 billion in assets, a strengthened balance sheet, and its position as Puerto Rico's premier domestically headquartered financial institution intact.

The company operates community investment programs focused on Puerto Rico, including disaster recovery support following Hurricane Maria and ongoing financial education and economic development initiatives on the island. Its community role is a central part of its identity as Puerto Rico's flagship domestic bank.

First BanCorp's challenges have been economic rather than scandal-driven. The company navigated Puerto Rico's prolonged fiscal crisis, the 2016 commonwealth debt default, and Hurricane Maria's devastation, periods that stressed every island institution but produced no defining enforcement action against it. Its history is one of survival and recovery rather than legal controversy.