PUERTO RICO, Mar. 8, 2009 (Info-Prod Research) -- Moody's Investors Service downgraded the Issuer rating of FirstBank of Puerto Rico to Ba2 from Ba1. The outlook is stable. The rating agency affirmed FirstBank's other ratings, including its bank financial strength rating of D+, long-term deposits of Ba1 and short term deposits of Not Prime. FirstBank is the primary bank subsidiary of First Bancorp (NYSE:FBP PRB) (NYSE:FBP PRC) (NYSE:FBP PRD) (NYSE:FBP PRA) (NYSE:FBP PRE) (NYSE:FBP) (NASDAQ:FBNC) , an unrated bank holding company. The ratings downgrade incorporates Moody's current notching practices for non-deposit obligations of banks in depositor preference jurisdictions.For banks with non-investment grade deposit ratings, Moody's generally rates other senior obligations one-notch lower, reflecting depositor preference. Moody's notes that FirstBank enters this challenging period with healthy capital ratios. At December 31, 2008, its regulatory capital ratios were 10.98%, 12.23%, and 7.90%, for Tier 1 risk-based, Total risk-based and Tier 1 leverage, respectively. Moody's last rating action on FirstBank was on September 26, 2007, when the rating outlook was changed to stable from negative.