TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 6, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said it affirmed the 'BB+' long-term counterparty credit rating on FirstBank Puerto Rico, a banking subsidiary of First BanCorp (financial holding company; not rated). At the same time, we removed the rating from CreditWatch with negative implications, where it was placed Oct. 3, 2005. The outlook is stable. We placed the rating on CreditWatch after FirstBank announced a number of senior management changes that came at a time when it was already under an informal inquiry related to accounting issues. Subsequently, in December 2005, the bank announced that it would restate four years of financial reporting as a result of reviewing the accounting for certain purchased mortgage loans
