Northern Trust firmly denies BNY merger discussions

After a month of swirling rumors, Northern Trust was crystal clear on Wednesday: It is not considering a merger with Bank of New York Mellon.

“I want to reaffirm our commitment to remain independent,” CEO Michael O’Grady said during the bank’s second-quarter earnings call. “Contrary to recent speculation, during my tenure as CEO, we have never entertained discussions regarding the sale of the company with any financial institution, nor do we intend to.”

In recent weeks, reports have circulated that Northern Trust participated in talks with BNY, its larger, New York-based rival, about a potential acquisition. On June 22, the Wall Street Journal reported that the two banks’ CEOs had held at least one conversation about the idea. One day later, Northern Trust’s stock jumped by more than 6%.

The story had such an impact that a member of Congress spoke out against the hypothetical merger. On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote a letter to BNY CEO Robin Vince, warning that a BNY-Northern Trust deal would raise antitrust concerns and be “presumptively illegal.”

“I urge you to refrain from pursuing what appears to be a facially unlawful transaction,” Warren wrote.

But on Wednesday, O’Grady was unequivocal: Northern Trust is going it alone.

“We are completely focused on executing on our strategy, and we believe that that strategy of independence is what will produce the best returns for our shareholders,” the Northern Trust CEO said.

Over the past month, he went on, clients have made it clear they have many “alternative” financial partners available to them, but they stick with Northern Trust because it provides “a higher level of client service.” Being acquired by a larger firm, O’Grady implied, might jeopardize that advantage.

The CEO did not rule out the possibility that Northern Trust could acquire another firm — but he said that a potential merger would have to meet “very high standards.”

“Over time, we have done acquisitions that enable us to either enter another market or to bolster our capabilities in a particular market, and we’ll continue to look at those over time, if they make sense,” O’Grady said.

O’Grady’s language echoed recent remarks by BNY’s CEO, as he also brushed off the merger rumors.

“It’s a very high bar for us, for M&A, especially a larger transaction,” Vince told analysts during BNY’s earnings call last week. “It would have to make a ton of sense.”

O’Grady’s denial came during a call about Northern Trust’s second-quarter earnings, which surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. Earnings per share rose to $2.13, beating analysts’ average estimate of $2.04, according to S&P.

The EPS marked a 51% drop year over year, but the second quarter of 2024 was unusual for Northern Trust. That quarter, the bank recorded a large gain as a result of its participation in a stock exchange offer by the payments giant Visa.

Net income for the second quarter of 2025 came out to $421.3 million, well beyond estimates of $396.2 million, per S&P. And total revenue reached $2 billion, just above analysts’ predictions of $1.96 billion.

“We reported another quarter of improving results, reflecting a consistent execution of our One Northern Trust strategy,” O’Grady said. “We delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of generating positive, organic growth and operating leverage.”

One major contributor to second-quarter revenue was net interest income, which clocked in at $610.5 million — up from $522.9 million in the same period last year. Total noninterest income came out to $1.39 billion.

Several analysts described the $171.9 billion-asset bank’s results as solid.

“Overall, [Northern Trust] posted strong results in the second quarter, reflecting better-than-expected net interest income and noninterest income, partially offset by higher taxes and noninterest expense,” wrote Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.