Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As of December 31, 2021, the Corporation’s management, with the participation of the Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the Corporation’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Corporation in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Based on such evaluation, such officers have concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, the Corporation’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Management of the Corporation is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) to provide reasonable assurance to the Corporation’s management and Board of Directors regarding the preparation of reliable published financial statements. This internal control includes monitoring mechanisms, and actions are taken to correct deficiencies identified.

Management assessed the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on the criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting described in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this assessment, management concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, the Corporation maintained effective internal control over financial reporting. Additionally, KPMG LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited the Corporation’s consolidated financial statements as of, and for the year ended, December 31, 2021, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, has issued an attestation report on the effectiveness of the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act during the last fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors

Northern Trust Corporation:

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited Northern Trust Corporation and subsidiaries’ (the Corporation) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, the Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Corporation as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements), and our report dated February 28, 2022 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Corporation’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Corporation in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Chicago, Illinois

February 28, 2022