Item 1—Business

NORTHERN TRUST CORPORATION

Northern Trust Corporation (Corporation) is a financial holding company that is a leading provider of asset servicing, fund administration, asset management, fiduciary and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families and individuals worldwide. The Corporation conducts business through various U.S. and non-U.S. subsidiaries, including The Northern Trust Company (Bank). The Corporation was originally formed as a holding company for the Bank in 1971. The Corporation has a network of offices in 18 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and 16 international locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region. At December 31, 2011, the Corporation had consolidated total assets of $100.2 billion and stockholders’ equity of $7.1 billion.

The Bank is an Illinois banking corporation headquartered in the Chicago financial district and the Corporation’s principal subsidiary. Founded in 1889, the Bank conducts its business through its U.S. operations and its various U.S. and non-U.S. branches and subsidiaries. At December 31, 2011, the Bank had consolidated assets of $99.8 billion and common equity capital of $6.9 billion.

The Corporation expects that, although the operations of other banking and non-banking subsidiaries will continue to be of increasing significance, the Bank will in the foreseeable future continue to be the major source of the Corporation’s consolidated assets, revenues, and net income. Except where the context otherwise requires, the term “Northern Trust” refers to Northern Trust Corporation and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. A complete list of the Corporation’s direct and indirect subsidiaries is filed as Exhibit 21 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and incorporated into this Item by reference.

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS

On June 1, 2011, Northern Trust acquired the fund administration, investment operations outsourcing and custody business of the Bank of Ireland Securities Services (BoISS) from the Bank of Ireland Group. With this acquisition, Northern Trust’s combined assets under custody and administration in Ireland increased by approximately $80 billion as of the closing. BoISS, now known as Northern Trust Securities Services (Ireland) Limited, provides specialized services to a broad range of funds, including money-market, multi-manager, exchange-traded funds, and property funds, serving both the on-shore and off-shore markets.

On July 29, 2011, Northern Trust acquired Omnium LLC (Omnium), a leading hedge fund administrator with approximately $73 billion in assets under administration as of the closing. Omnium, now known as Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services LLC, provides world-class, scalable technology and dedicated expertise to serve hedge funds and large institutional investors with complex portfolios. The business provides comprehensive administrative and middle-office services including trade processing, valuation, real-time reporting, cash management, accounting, collateral management and investor servicing.

On October 1, 2011, Northern Trust merged two of its bank subsidiaries, Northern Trust, NA and Northern Trust Bank, FSB, into The Northern Trust Company. Refer to the “Regulation and Supervision” section (page 3) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

BUSINESS UNITS

Under the leadership of Frederick H. Waddell, the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, Northern Trust organizes its services globally around its two client-focused principal business units: Corporate and Institutional Services (C&IS) and Personal Financial Services (PFS). Two other business units provide services to the two principal business units: Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI), which provides investment management, and Operations and Technology (O&T), which provides operating and systems support.

Financial information regarding the Corporation and its business units is included in the Corporation’s Annual Report to Stockholders for the year ended December 31, 2011. In particular, for a discussion of significant developments in the business of the Corporation, and the impact on the financial results of the Corporation and its business units for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, you are urged to review the section entitled “Consolidated Results of Operations” on pages 20 through 29 of Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of the Corporation’s Annual Report to Stockholders for the year ended December 31, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference.

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The following is a brief summary of each business unit’s activities and the activities of the Corporate Financial Management Group and the Corporate Risk Management Group.

Corporate & Institutional Services

C&IS is a leading global provider of asset servicing, securities lending, brokerage, banking and related services to corporate and public retirement funds, foundations, endowments, fund managers, insurance companies, sovereign wealth and government funds. Asset servicing and related services encompass a full range of industry leading capabilities including but not limited to: global master trust and custody, trade settlement, and reporting; fund administration; cash management; investment risk and performance analytical services; investment operations outsourcing; and transition management and commission recapture. Client relationships are managed through the Bank and the Bank’s and the Corporation’s other subsidiaries, including support from international locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region. C&IS also executes related foreign exchange transactions from offices located in the United States, United Kingdom, and Singapore. During 2011, C&IS completed the acquisitions of BoISS and Omnium, which further strengthen C&IS’ competitive position and client franchises in the offshore fund and hedge fund administration marketplaces. At December 31, 2011, total C&IS assets under custody were $3.9 trillion and assets under management were $489.2 billion.

Personal Financial Services

PFS provides personal trust, investment management, custody, and philanthropic services; financial consulting; guardianship and estate administration; brokerage services; and private and business banking. PFS focuses on high net worth individuals and families, business owners, executives, professionals, retirees, and established privately held businesses in its target markets. PFS also includes the Wealth Management Group, which provides customized products and services to meet the complex financial needs of individuals and family offices in the United States and throughout the world with assets typically exceeding $200 million. The merger of the Corporation’s bank subsidiaries described in the “Regulation and Supervision” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K will benefit our clients by enabling them to bank in any Northern Trust location and will allow Northern Trust to realize operational efficiencies.

PFS is one of the largest providers of personal trust services in the United States, with $385.2 billion in assets under custody and $173.7 billion in assets under management at December 31, 2011. PFS services are delivered through a network of offices in 18 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., as well as offices in London and Guernsey.

Northern Trust Global Investments

NTGI, through various subsidiaries of the Corporation, provides a broad range of asset management and related services and other products to clients around the world, including clients of C&IS and PFS. Clients include institutional and individual separately managed accounts, bank common and collective funds, registered investment companies, exchange traded funds, non-U.S. collective investment funds, and unregistered private investment funds. NTGI offers both active and passive equity and fixed income portfolio management, as well as alternative asset classes (such as private equity and hedge funds of funds) and multi-manager products and advisory services. NTGI’s activities also include overlay services and other risk management services. NTGI’s business operates internationally through subsidiaries, joint ventures, alliances, and distribution arrangements.

Operations and Technology

O&T supports all of Northern Trust’s business activities, including the processing and product management activities of C&IS, PFS, and NTGI. These activities are conducted principally in the operations and technology centers in Chicago, London, and Bangalore.

Corporate Financial Management Group

The Corporate Financial Management Group includes the Chief Financial Officer, Controller, Treasurer, and Investor Relations functions. The Group is responsible for Northern Trust’s accounting and financial infrastructure and for managing the Corporation’s financial position.

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Corporate Risk Management Group

The Corporate Risk Management Group includes the Credit Policy and other Corporate Risk Management functions. The Credit Policy function is described in the “Loans and Other Extensions of Credit” section of the Annual Report to Stockholders for the year ended December 31, 2011 on pages 50-55. The Corporate Risk Management Group monitors, measures, and facilitates the management of risks across the businesses of the Corporation and its subsidiaries.

GOVERNMENT MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICIES

The earnings of Northern Trust are affected by numerous external influences. Chief among these are general economic conditions, both domestic and international, and actions that governments and their central banks take in managing their economies. These general conditions affect all of Northern Trust’s businesses, as well as the quality, value, and profitability of their loan and investment portfolios.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) is an important regulator of U.S. economic conditions and has the general objective of promoting orderly economic growth in the United States. Implementation of this objective is accomplished by the Federal Reserve Board’s open market operations in United States Government securities, its setting of the discount rate at which member banks may borrow from Federal Reserve Banks, and its changes in the reserve requirements for deposits. The policies adopted by the Federal Reserve Board may strongly influence interest rates and hence what banks earn on their loans and investments and what they pay on their savings and time deposits and other purchased funds. Fiscal policies in the United States and abroad also affect the composition and use of Northern Trust’s resources.

COMPETITION

The businesses in which Northern Trust operates are very competitive. Competition is provided by both unregulated and regulated financial services organizations, whose products and services span the local, national, and global markets in which Northern Trust conducts operations.

Northern Trust’s principal business strategy is to provide quality financial services to targeted market segments in which it believes it has a competitive advantage and favorable growth prospects. As part of this strategy, Northern Trust seeks to deliver a level of service that distinguishes it from its competitors. In addition, Northern Trust emphasizes the development and growth of recurring sources of fee-based income and is one of a select group of major bank holding companies in the United States that generates more revenues from fee-based services than from net interest income. Northern Trust seeks to develop and expand its recurring fee-based revenue by identifying selected markets with good growth characteristics and providing a high level of individualized service to clients in those markets. Northern Trust also seeks to preserve its asset quality through established credit review procedures and to maintain a conservative balance sheet. Finally, Northern Trust seeks to operate with a strong management team that includes senior officers having broad experience and long tenures.

Commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions actively compete for deposits, and money market funds and investment banking firms offer deposit-like services. These institutions, as well as consumer and commercial finance companies, national retail chains, factors, insurance companies, and pension trusts, are important competitors for various types of loans. Issuers of commercial paper compete actively for funds and reduce demand for bank loans. For personal and corporate trust services and investment counseling services, trust companies, investment banking firms, insurance companies, investment counseling firms, and others offer active competition.

REGULATION AND SUPERVISION

Financial Holding Company Regulation

Under U.S. law, the Corporation is a bank holding company that has elected to be a financial holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (BHCA). Consequently, the Corporation and its business activities throughout the world are subject to the supervision, examination, and regulation of the Federal Reserve Board. The BHCA and other federal laws subject bank and financial holding companies to particular restrictions on the types of activities in which they may engage and to a range of supervisory requirements, including regulatory enforcement actions for violations of laws and regulations. Supervision and regulation of bank holding companies, financial holding companies, and their subsidiaries are intended primarily for the protection of depositors and other clients of banking subsidiaries, the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the banking system as a whole, not for the protection of stockholders or other non-depository creditors.

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Under the BHCA, bank holding companies and their banking subsidiaries are generally limited to the business of banking and activities closely related or incidental to banking. As a financial holding company, the Corporation is permitted to engage in other activities that the Federal Reserve Board, working with the Secretary of the Treasury, determines to be financial in nature, incidental to an activity that is financial in nature, or complementary to a financial activity and that do not pose a substantial risk to the safety and soundness of depository institutions or the financial system generally, or to acquire shares of companies engaged in such activities. Activities defined to be financial in nature include: providing financial or investment advice; securities underwriting and dealing; insurance underwriting; and making merchant banking investments in commercial and financial companies, subject to significant limitations. They also include activities previously determined by the Federal Reserve Board to be so closely related to banking or managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. The Corporation may not, however, directly or indirectly acquire the ownership or control of more than 5% of any class of voting shares, or substantially all of the assets, of a bank holding company or a bank, without the prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board.

In order to maintain the Corporation’s status as a financial holding company, the Corporation’s insured depository institution subsidiary, the Bank, must remain “well capitalized” and “well managed” under applicable regulations, and must have received at least a “satisfactory” rating in its most recent examination under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). In addition, the Corporation must also be and remain “well-capitalized” and “well managed” in order to retain its status as a financial holding company. Failure to meet one or more of these requirements would mean, depending on the requirements not met, that the Corporation could not undertake new activities, continue certain activities, or make acquisitions other than those permitted generally for bank holding companies.

Subsidiary Regulation

The Bank is a member of the Federal Reserve System, its deposits are insured by the FDIC up to the maximum authorized limit, and it is subject to regulation by both these agencies. The Bank, as an Illinois banking corporation, is also subject to Illinois state laws and regulations and to examination and supervision by the Division of Banking of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The Bank is registered as a government securities dealer in accordance with the Government Securities Act of 1986. As a government securities dealer, its activities are subject to the rules and regulations of the Department of the Treasury. The Bank is also registered as a transfer agent with the Federal Reserve Board and is therefore subject to the rules and regulations of the Federal Reserve Board in this area. In addition, the Corporation, the Bank and the Corporation’s New York trust company subsidiary are subject to regulation by the Banking Department of the State of New York.

On October 1, 2011, the Corporation merged its national bank subsidiary, Northern Trust, NA, and federal savings bank, Northern Trust Bank, FSB, with and into the Bank, in order to simplify the Corporation’s organization, reduce costs, consolidate capital, and enhance client experience.

The Corporation’s nonbanking affiliates are all subject to examination by the Federal Reserve Board. Its broker-dealer subsidiary is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, subject to the rules and regulations of both of these bodies. Several subsidiaries of the Corporation are registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and are subject to that act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Other subsidiaries are regulated by state banking departments in Connecticut, Delaware and California. Two families of mutual funds for which the Bank acts as investment adviser and one registered closed-end hedge fund of funds for which another subsidiary serves as investment adviser are subject to regulation by the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Functional Regulation

Federal banking law has established a system of federal and state supervision and regulation based on functional regulation, meaning that primary regulatory oversight for a particular activity generally resides with the federal or state regulator designated as having the principal responsibility for that activity. Banking is supervised by federal and state banking regulators, insurance by state insurance regulators, and securities activities by the SEC and state securities regulators.

A significant component of the functional regulation relates to the application of federal securities laws and SEC oversight of some bank securities activities. Generally, banks may conduct securities activities without broker-dealer

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registration only if the activities fall within a set of activity-based exemptions designed to allow banks to conduct only those activities traditionally considered to be primarily banking or trust activities. Securities activities outside these exemptions, as a practical matter, need to be conducted by a registered broker-dealer affiliate. The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 requires the registration of any bank or separately identifiable division of the bank that acts as investment adviser for mutual funds. The Corporation believes that it has taken the necessary actions to comply with these requirements of federal law.

Non-U.S. Regulation

The increasingly important activities of the Corporation’s subsidiaries outside the U.S. are subject to regulation and supervision by a number of non-U.S. regulatory agencies. Subsidiaries conducting banking, fund administration and asset servicing businesses in the United Kingdom, for example, are subject to regulation by and supervision of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and are authorized to conduct such activities pursuant to the U.K. Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000. The FSA exercises broad supervisory and disciplinary powers that include the power to temporarily or permanently revoke authorization to conduct a regulated business upon breach of the relevant regulations, suspend registered employees, and impose censures and fines on both regulated businesses and their registered employees. The non-U.S. subsidiaries of the Corporation and branches of the Bank outside the U.S. are subject to the laws and regulatory authorities of the jurisdictions in which they operate. Additionally, the Corporation’s subsidiary banks located outside the U.S. are subject to regulatory capital requirements in the jurisdictions in which they operate. As of December 31, 2011, each of the Corporation’s non-U.S. banking subsidiaries had capital ratios above their specified minimum requirements. As is the case in the U.S., European regulatory authorities are introducing regulatory change in a wide variety of areas. For example, European regulators have introduced through the Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (“UCITS”) IV Directive new requirements that directly and indirectly affect depositary, fund management, and fund administration businesses. European authorities have begun the process of implementing the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive which will affect the duties of depositaries, European Union (“EU”) and non-EU fund managers and non-UCITS funds. European regulatory authorities are also putting forward proposals through the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2, European Market Infrastructure Regulation and Market Abuse Regulation proposals which deal with derivatives trading and clearing, pre and post trade transparency, investor protection issues and overall market orderliness. These actual and proposed regulatory changes have impacted, and will impact, the business that the Bank’s and its non-U.S. subsidiaries’ conduct in the European Union.

The Dodd-Frank Act

On July 21, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) was signed into law. The Dodd-Frank Act is having a broad impact on the financial services industry and imposes significant new regulatory and compliance requirements, including the designation of certain financial companies as “systemically important financial institutions” (SIFIs), the imposition of increased capital, leverage, and liquidity requirements, and numerous other provisions designed to improve supervision and oversight of, and strengthen safety and soundness within, the financial services sector. Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act establishes a new framework of authority to conduct systemic risk oversight within the financial system to be distributed among new and existing federal regulatory agencies, including the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the FDIC.

The following items provide a brief description of certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that are most relevant to the Corporation and its banking subsidiaries.

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The requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act will be implemented pursuant to regulations over the course of several months or years. Given the uncertainty associated with future regulatory actions, the full impact such requirements will have on the Corporation’s operations is unclear. The changes resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act may impact the profitability of the Corporation’s banking subsidiaries, require changes to certain of the Corporation’s business practices, impose upon the Corporation more stringent capital, liquidity and leverage requirements, and could adversely affect certain of the Corporation’s business activities. These changes may also require the Corporation and its subsidiaries to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make any changes necessary to comply with new requirements.

Holding Company Support and Cross-Guarantees under the FDIA

Under the FDIA, when two or more insured depository institutions are under common control, each of those depository institutions may be liable for any loss incurred, or expected to be incurred, by the FDIC in connection with the default of any of the others. Each also may be liable for any assistance the FDIC provides to the other institutions. “Default” means the appointment of a conservator or receiver for the institution.

The Dodd-Frank Act amends the FDIA to obligate the Federal Reserve Board to require bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies to serve as a source of financial strength for any subsidiary depository institution. The appropriate federal banking agency for such a depository institution may require reports from companies that own the insured depository institution to assess their ability to serve as a source of strength and to enforce compliance with the source-of-strength requirements. The term “source of financial strength” is defined as the ability of a company to provide financial assistance to its insured depository institution subsidiaries in the event of financial distress at such subsidiaries. Under this requirement, the Corporation in the future could be required to provide financial assistance to the Bank should the Bank experience financial distress. The Dodd-Frank Act statutory requirements became effective on July 21, 2011. Although the appropriate federal banking agencies were required by the Dodd-Frank Act to jointly adopt implementing regulations by July 21, 2011, to date no final regulations have been adopted.

This cross-guarantee liability for a loss at a commonly controlled institution would be subordinated in right of payment to deposit liabilities, secured obligations, any other general or senior liability, and any obligation subordinated to depositors or other general creditors, other than obligations owed to any affiliate of the depository institution (with certain exceptions).

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Payment of Dividends

The Corporation is a legal entity separate and distinct from its subsidiaries. The principal source of funds for the Corporation is dividends from the Bank. As a result, the Corporation’s ability to pay dividends on its common stock will depend primarily on the ability of the Bank to pay dividends to the Corporation in amounts sufficient to service its obligations. Dividend payments from the Bank are subject to Illinois law and to regulatory limitations, generally based on capital levels and current and retained earnings, imposed by various regulatory agencies with authority over the Bank. The ability of the Bank to pay dividends is also subject to regulatory restrictions if paying dividends would impair its profitability, financial condition or cash flow requirements.

The Federal Reserve Board has issued a policy statement with regard to the payment of cash dividends by bank holding companies. The policy statement provides that, as a matter of prudent banking, a bank holding company should not maintain a rate of cash dividends unless its net income available to common stockholders has been sufficient to fully fund the dividends, and the prospective rate of earnings retention appears to be consistent with the holding company’s capital needs, asset quality, and overall financial condition. Accordingly, without Federal Reserve Board approval, a bank holding company cannot pay cash dividends that exceed its net income, and cash dividends cannot be funded in ways that weaken the bank holding company’s financial health, such as by borrowing.

Various federal and state statutory provisions limit the amount of dividends the Bank can pay to the Corporation without regulatory approval. Approval of the Federal Reserve Board is required for payment of any dividend by a state chartered bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System if the total of all dividends declared by the bank in any calendar year would exceed the total of its retained net income (as defined by regulatory agencies) for that year combined with its retained net income for the preceding two years. In addition, a state member bank may not pay a dividend in an amount greater than its “undivided profits,” as defined, without regulatory and stockholder approval.

The Bank is also prohibited under federal law from paying any dividends if the Bank is undercapitalized or if the payment of the dividends would cause the Bank to become undercapitalized. In addition, the federal regulatory agencies are authorized to prohibit a bank or bank holding company from engaging in an unsafe or unsound banking practice. The payment of dividends could, depending on the financial condition of the Bank, be deemed to constitute an unsafe or unsound practice. The Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III (as described below) impose additional restrictions on the ability of banking institutions to pay dividends.

On November 22, 2011, the Federal Reserve Board issued a final rule implementing the requirement of the Dodd-Frank Act that bank holding companies domiciled in the U.S. with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more, including the Corporation, submit annual capital plans to the Federal Reserve Board for review. Under the final rule, the Federal Reserve Board will annually evaluate institutions’ capital adequacy, internal capital adequacy assessment processes, and their plans to make capital distributions, such as dividend payments or stock repurchases. The Federal Reserve Board will approve dividend increases or other capital distributions only for companies whose capital plans are approved by supervisors and are able to demonstrate sufficient financial strength to operate as successful financial intermediaries under stressed macroeconomic and financial market scenarios, after making the desired capital distributions. In addition to issuing the final rule, the Federal Reserve Board launched the 2012 review by issuing instructions outlining the information the Federal Reserve Board is seeking from the covered firms, including the Corporation, and the analysis the Federal Reserve Board will do on the capital plans. The level of detail and analysis expected in each institution’s capital plan will vary based on the company’s size, complexity, risk profile, and scope of operations. In January 2012, the Corporation submitted its first capital plan to the Federal Reserve Board.

Capital Adequacy Requirements

The regulators view capital levels as important indicators of an institution’s financial soundness. As a general matter, FDIC-insured depository institutions and their holding companies (including the Bank and the Corporation) are required to maintain minimum capital relative to the amount and types of assets they hold. The final supervisory determination on an institution’s capital adequacy is based on the regulator’s assessment of numerous factors.

The Federal Reserve Board has established risk-based and leverage capital guidelines for bank holding companies, including the Corporation. The current risk-based capital guidelines that apply to the Corporation and the Bank, commonly referred to as Basel I, are based upon the 1988 capital accord of the International Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Basel Committee), a committee of central banks and bank supervisors, as implemented by the Federal Reserve Board. As discussed further below, the federal bank regulatory agencies have adopted new risk-based capital guidelines for “core banks,” including the Corporation, based upon the Revised Framework for the International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards (Basel II) issued by the Basel Committee in November 2005.

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Basel I

Under the existing Basel I-based guidelines, the minimum ratio of total capital to risk-weighted assets (which are primarily the credit risk equivalents of balance sheet assets and certain off-balance sheet items such as standby letters of credit, but also include a nominal market risk equivalent balance related to foreign exchange and debt/equity trading activities) is eight percent. At least half of the total capital must be composed of tier 1 capital, which includes common stockholders’ equity (including retained earnings), qualifying non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock (and, for bank holding companies only, a limited amount of qualifying cumulative perpetual preferred stock and a limited amount of trust preferred securities), and minority interests in the equity accounts of consolidated subsidiaries, less goodwill, other disallowed intangibles, and disallowed deferred tax assets, among other items. The Federal Reserve Board also has adopted a minimum leverage ratio for bank holding companies, requiring tier 1 capital of at least three percent of average quarterly total consolidated assets (as defined for regulatory purposes), net of goodwill and certain other intangible assets.

The federal banking regulators have also established risk-based and leverage capital guidelines that FDIC- insured depository institutions are required to meet. These regulations are generally similar to those established by the Federal Reserve Board for bank holding companies. The risk-based and leverage capital ratios for the Corporation and the Bank, together with the regulatory minimum ratios and the ratios required for classification as “well-capitalized,” are provided in the following chart.

Basel II

As mentioned above, the Corporation also is subject to the Basel II framework for risk-based capital adequacy. The U.S. bank regulatory agencies have issued final rules with respect to implementation of the Basel II framework. Under the final Basel II rules, the Corporation is one of a small number of “core” banking organizations. As a result, the Corporation and the Bank will be required to use the advanced approaches under Basel II for calculating risk-based capital related to credit risk and operational risk, instead of the methodology reflected in the regulations effective prior to adoption of Basel II. The rules also require core banking organizations to have rigorous processes for assessing overall capital adequacy in relation to their total risk profiles, and to publicly disclose certain information about their risk profiles and capital adequacy.

The Corporation has for several years been preparing to comply with the advanced approaches of the Basel II framework. In order to implement the rules, a core banking organization, such as the Corporation, was required to adopt (and the Corporation did adopt) an implementation plan and satisfactorily complete a parallel run, in which it calculated capital requirements under both the Basel II rules and regulations effective prior to the adoption of Basel II. In the U.S., the Corporation entered the parallel run in April 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act requires the U.S. banking regulatory agencies to amend their capital rules to provide that minimum capital required under the Basel I-based rules will act as a floor for minimum capital requirements calculated in accordance with the U.S. Basel II rules. Accordingly, the transition for “core” banks to calculations only under the Basel II-based requirements is being eliminated.

The Corporation is also addressing issues related to implementation timing differences between the U.S. and other jurisdictions, to ensure that the Corporation and its depository institution subsidiaries comply with regulatory requirements and expectations in all jurisdictions where they operate. The Corporation’s U.K., Guernsey and Canadian entities subject to Basel II rules have already adopted the standardized approach for credit risk and the basic indicator approach for operational risk in calculating minimum regulatory capital requirements.

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Basel III

On December 16, 2010, the Basel Committee released its final framework for strengthening international capital and liquidity regulation, known as Basel III. The Basel III calibration and phase-in arrangements were previously endorsed by the Seoul G20 Leaders Summit in November 2010, and will be subject to individual adoption by member nations, including the U.S. Under these standards, when fully phased-in on January 1, 2019, banking institutions will be required to satisfy three risk-based capital ratios:

The capital conservation buffer is designed to absorb losses during periods of economic stress. Banking institutions with a tier 1 common equity ratio above the minimum but below the conservation buffer may face constraints on dividends, equity repurchases, and compensation based on the amount of such shortfall. The Basel Committee also announced that a “countercyclical buffer” of 0% to 2.5% of common equity or other loss-absorbing capital “will be implemented according to national circumstances” as an “extension” of the conservation buffer during periods of excess credit growth.

Basel I and Basel II do not include a leverage requirement as an international standard. However, Basel III introduces a non-risk adjusted tier 1 leverage ratio of 3%, based on a measure of total exposure rather than total assets and new liquidity standards.

The increases to the minimum common equity and tier 1 capital ratios will be phased-in over two years beginning on January 1, 2013, with the full increases taking effect on January 1, 2015. This will be followed by a three-year phase-in, beginning on January 1, 2016, of the capital conservation buffer, with the full 2.5% buffer requirement taking effect on January 1, 2019.

Basel III also provides for the deduction of certain assets from capital (deferred tax assets, mortgage servicing rights, investments in financial firms and pension assets, among others, within prescribed limitations), the inclusion of other comprehensive income in capital, and increased capital for counterparty credit risk. The phase-in period for the capital deductions is proposed to occur in 20 percent increments starting January 1, 2014, with full implementation by January 1, 2018.

On November 4, 2011 the Basel Committee issued its final rule setting forth proposals to apply a new tier 1 common equity surcharge to certain designated global systemically important banks (GSIBs). GSIBs subject to the surcharge would be identified by application of a quantitative “indicator-based approach” for evaluating systemic risk that weights both categories and indicators of size, substitutability, interconnectedness, cross-jurisdictional activity, and complexity. Also on November 4, 2011, using the Basel Committee’s methodology, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Basel Committee identified an initial group of 29 financial institutions determined to be GSIBs. Although the Corporation was not included on the list, the group of GSIBs will be updated annually and published by the FSB each November. The GSIBs equity surcharge provisions, like the rest of Basel III, are subject to interpretation and implementation by U.S. regulatory authorities.

Under the Dodd-Frank Act, for SIFIs, including the Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board may increase the capital buffer. The purpose of these new capital requirements is to ensure financial institutions are better capitalized to withstand periods of unfavorable financial and economic conditions. The Dodd-Frank Act also requires the establishment of more stringent prudential standards by requiring the federal banking agencies to adopt capital and liquidity requirements which address the risks that the activities of an institution pose to the institution and the public and private stakeholders, including risks arising from certain enumerated activities. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Act excludes trust preferred securities issued on or after May 19, 2010 from tier 1 capital. For depository institution holding companies with total consolidated assets of more than $15 billion at December 31, 2009, trust preferred securities issued before May 19, 2010 will be phased-out of tier 1 capital over a three-year period.

The federal banking agencies will likely implement changes to the current capital adequacy standards applicable to the Corporation and the Bank in light of Basel III. If adopted by federal banking agencies, Basel III could lead to significantly higher capital requirements and more restrictive leverage and liquidity ratios. The ultimate impact of the new capital and liquidity standards on the Corporation and the Bank is currently being reviewed and will depend on a number of

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factors, including the rulemaking and implementation by the U.S. banking regulators. The Corporation cannot determine the ultimate effect that potential legislation, or subsequent regulations, if enacted, would have upon the Corporation’s earnings or financial position. In addition, significant questions remain as to how the capital and liquidity mandates of the Dodd-Frank Act will be integrated with the requirements of Basel III. However, as the Corporation currently understands Basel III, it believes its capital strength, balance sheet and business model leave it well positioned for Basel III.

Prompt Corrective Action

Under the FDIA, the federal banking agencies must take “prompt corrective action” against undercapitalized U.S. depository institutions. U.S. depository institutions are assigned one of five capital categories: “well capitalized,” “adequately capitalized,” “undercapitalized,” “significantly undercapitalized,” and “critically undercapitalized,” and are subjected to differential regulation corresponding to the capital category within which the institution falls. A depository institution is deemed to be “well capitalized” if the banking institution has a total risk-based capital ratio of 10.0% or greater, a tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 6.0% or greater, and a leverage ratio of 5.0% or greater, and the institution is not subject to an order, written agreement, capital directive, or prompt corrective action directive to meet and maintain a specific level for any capital measure. Under certain circumstances, a well capitalized, adequately capitalized or undercapitalized institution may be treated as if the institution were in the next lower capital category. A banking institution that is undercapitalized is required to submit a capital restoration plan. Failure to meet capital guidelines could subject the Bank to a variety of enforcement remedies by federal bank regulatory agencies, including: termination of deposit insurance by the FDIC, restrictions on certain business activities, and appointment of the FDIC as conservator or receiver. As of December 31, 2011, the Corporation and the Bank exceeded the required capital ratios for classification as “well capitalized.”

Examination and Enforcement Powers of the Federal Banking Agencies

A principal objective of the U.S. bank regulatory system is to protect depositors by ensuring the financial safety and soundness of banks. To that end, the banking regulators have broad regulatory, examination, and enforcement powers, including the power to issue cease and desist orders, impose substantial fines and other civil and criminal penalties, terminate deposit insurance and appoint a conservator or receiver. Failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and supervisory agreements could subject the Corporation and its banking subsidiaries, as well as officers, directors, and other institution-affiliated parties of these organizations, to administrative sanctions and potentially substantial civil money penalties. The appropriate federal banking agency may appoint the FDIC as conservator or receiver for a banking institution (or the FDIC may appoint itself, under certain circumstances) if any one or more of a number of circumstances exist, including, without limitation, the fact that the banking institution:

The FDIC may terminate a depository institution’s deposit insurance upon a finding that the institution’s financial condition is unsafe or unsound or that the institution has engaged in unsafe or unsound practices or has violated any applicable rule, regulation, order or condition enacted or imposed by the institution’s regulatory agency. Engaging in unsafe or unsound practices or failing to comply with applicable laws, regulations and supervisory agreements could subject the Bank, the Corporation, and other subsidiaries of the Corporation, or their officers, directors, and institution-affiliated parties to the remedies described above and other sanctions.

Restrictions on Transactions with Affiliates and Insiders

FDIC-insured banks, including the Corporation’s bank subsidiaries, are subject to restrictions under Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act (as implemented by Regulation W), which govern transactions between FDIC-insured banks and any affiliated entity, whether that entity is the bank’s parent holding company, a holding company affiliate of the bank or a subsidiary of the bank. Regulation W restrictions apply to certain “covered transactions,” including extensions of credit, issuance of guarantees, investments or asset purchases. In general, these restrictions require that any extensions of credit must be fully secured with qualifying collateral and are limited, as to any one of the Corporation or such non-bank affiliates, to 10% of the lending bank’s capital stock and surplus, and, as to the Corporation and all such non-bank affiliates in

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the aggregate, to 20% of such lending bank’s capital stock and surplus. These restrictions, other than the 10% of capital limit on covered transactions with any one affiliate, are also applied to transactions between banks and their financial subsidiaries. Furthermore, these transactions must be on terms and conditions that are, or in good faith would be, offered to nonaffiliated companies (i.e., at arm’s length).

The Dodd-Frank Act generally enhances the restrictions on transactions with affiliates under Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act, including an expansion of the definition of “covered transactions” to include credit exposures related to derivatives, repurchase agreements and securities lending arrangements, and an increase in the amount of time for which collateral requirements regarding covered credit transactions must be satisfied. The definition of “affiliate” was expanded to include any investment fund to which the Corporation or an affiliate serves as an investment adviser. The ability of the Federal Reserve Board to grant exemptions from these restrictions was also narrowed, including by requiring coordination with other bank regulators. In addition, the provision in Section 23A that permits a bank to engage in covered transactions with a financial subsidiary of the bank in an amount greater than 10% (but less than 20%) of the bank’s capital and surplus has been eliminated.

The restrictions on loans to directors, executive officers, principal stockholders and their related interests (collectively referred to herein as “insiders”) contained in the Federal Reserve Act and Regulation O apply to all federally insured institutions. These restrictions include limits on loans to one borrower and conditions that must be met before such a loan can be made. There is also an aggregate limitation on all loans (including credit exposures related to derivatives, repurchase agreements and securities lending arrangements) to insiders and their related interests. These loans cannot exceed the institution’s total unimpaired capital and surplus, and the FDIC may determine that a lesser amount is appropriate. Insiders are subject to enforcement actions for knowingly accepting loans in violation of applicable restrictions. The Dodd-Frank Act enhanced these restrictions and also imposed restrictions on the purchase or sale of assets between banking institutions and insiders.

Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Legislation, and Office of Foreign Assets Control

Under federal law, including the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and the International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, financial institutions (including insured depository institutions, broker-dealers and certain other financial institutions) must maintain anti-money laundering programs that include established internal policies, procedures, and controls; a designated compliance officer; an ongoing employee training program; and testing of the program by an independent audit function. Financial institutions are prohibited from entering into specified financial transactions and account relationships and must meet enhanced standards for due diligence and customer identification in their dealings with non-U.S. financial institutions and non-U.S. customers. Financial institutions must take reasonable steps to conduct enhanced scrutiny of account relationships to guard against money laundering and to report any suspicious transactions, and law enforcement authorities have been granted increased access to financial information maintained by financial institutions. Bank regulators routinely examine institutions for compliance with these obligations and they must consider an institution’s compliance in connection with the regulatory review of applications, including applications for banking mergers and acquisitions. The regulatory authorities have imposed “cease and desist” orders and civil money penalty sanctions against institutions found to be violating these obligations.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is responsible for requiring that U.S. entities do not engage in transactions with certain prohibited parties, as defined by various Executive Orders and Acts of Congress. OFAC publishes lists of persons, organizations and countries suspected of aiding, harboring or engaging in terrorist acts, known as Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons. If the Corporation or the Bank finds a name on any transaction, account or wire transfer that is on an OFAC list, the Corporation or the Bank must freeze or block such account or transaction, file a suspicious activity report and notify the appropriate authorities.

Many other countries have imposed similar laws and regulations that apply to the Corporation’s non-U.S. offices. The Corporation has established policies and procedures to comply with these laws and the related regulations in all relevant jurisdictions.

Deposit Insurance and Assessments

FDIC-insured depository institutions are required to pay deposit insurance assessments to the FDIC. The amount of a particular institution’s deposit insurance assessment is based on that institution’s risk classification under an FDIC risk-based assessment system. An institution’s risk classification is assigned based on the level of supervisory concern the institution poses to the regulators, and the institution’s capital levels and other risk measures. The FDIC recently raised assessment rates to increase funding for the DIF, which is currently under-funded.

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The Dodd-Frank Act makes permanent the general $250,000 deposit insurance limit for insured deposits. In addition, federal deposit insurance for the full net amount of deposits in noninterest bearing transaction accounts was extended to January 1, 2013 for all insured banks.

The Dodd-Frank Act increased the minimum designated reserve ratio of the DIF from 1.15% to 1.35% of the estimated amount of total insured deposits effective September 30, 2020, eliminated the upper limit for the reserve ratio designated by the FDIC each year, and eliminated the requirement that the FDIC pay dividends to depository institutions when the reserve ratio exceeds certain thresholds. On December 14, 2010, the FDIC raised the minimum designated reserve ratio of the DIF to 2%. The ratio is higher than the minimum reserve ratio of 1.35% as set by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Effective April 1, 2011, the FDIC implemented a rule on Assessments, Dividends, Assessment Base and Large Bank Pricing. The final rule, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, changes the deposit insurance assessment system from one that is based on domestic deposits to one that is based on average consolidated total assets minus average tangible equity. Because the new assessment base under the Dodd-Frank Act is larger than the current assessment base, the final rule’s assessment rates are lower than the current rates, which achieves the FDIC’s goal of not significantly altering the total amount of revenue collected from the industry. In addition, the final rule adopts a “scorecard” assessment scheme for larger banks and suspends dividend payments if the DIF reserve ratio exceeds 1.5% but provides for decreasing assessment rates when the DIF reserve ratio reaches certain thresholds. The final rule further reduces the assessment base for custodial banks by the daily or weekly average of a certain amount of low-risk assets (i.e., assets with a Basel risk weighting of 0%, regardless of maturity, plus 50% of assets with a Basel risk weighting of 20%, again regardless of maturity) subject to the limitation that the daily or weekly average value of these assets cannot exceed the daily or weekly average value of those deposits classified as transaction accounts and identified by the institution as being directly linked to a fiduciary or custodial and safekeeping account. The final rule identifies custodial banks as insured depository institutions with previous calendar year-end trust assets (i.e., fiduciary and custody and safekeeping assets) of at least $50 billion or those insured depository institutions that derived more than 50% of their revenue (interest income plus non-interest income) from trust activity over the previous calendar year. Under the final rule, the Bank will pay slightly lower assessments to the DIF than under the old system.

Continued action by the FDIC to replenish the DIF as well as the changes contained in the Dodd-Frank Act may result in higher assessment rates, which could reduce the profitability of or otherwise negatively impact the Bank.

Interstate Banking and Branching

The Dodd-Frank Act amends the BHCA to require a bank holding company seeking approval to acquire shares of a bank located outside of the bank holding company’s home state to be well-capitalized and well-managed. Similarly, the Dodd-Frank Act amends the Bank Merger Act to require that the surviving bank in an interstate merger transaction be well-capitalized and well-managed. These requirements became effective on July 21, 2011.

In addition, national banks and state banks with different home states are permitted to merge across state lines, with the approval of the appropriate federal banking agency, unless the home state of a participating banking institution passed legislation prior to June 1, 1997 that expressly prohibits interstate mergers. The Dodd-Frank Act permits a national bank or a state bank, with the approval of its regulator, to open a branch in any state if the law of the state in which the branch is to be located would permit the establishment of the branch if the bank were a bank chartered in that state. On October 1, 2011, the Corporation merged its national bank subsidiary, Northern Trust, NA, and federal savings bank, Northern Trust Bank, FSB, with and into the Bank.

Community Reinvestment Act

The Corporation’s banking subsidiaries are subject to the CRA. The CRA and the regulations issued thereunder are intended to encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of their service areas, including low and moderate income neighborhoods, consistent with the safe and sound operations of the banks. These regulations also provide for regulatory assessment of a bank’s record in meeting the needs of its service area when considering applications to establish branches, merger applications, and applications to acquire the assets and assume the liabilities of another bank. Federal banking agencies are required to make public the rating of a bank’s performance under the CRA. In the case of a bank holding company, the CRA performance record of its bank subsidiaries is reviewed by federal banking agencies in connection with the filing of an application to acquire ownership or control of shares or assets of a bank or thrift or to merge with any other bank holding company. An unsatisfactory record can substantially delay or block the transaction. The Bank in its most recent CRA examination received an outstanding CRA rating from its regulator.

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In addition, federal law requires the disclosure of agreements reached with community groups that relate to the CRA, and contains various other provisions designed to improve the delivery of financial services to consumers while maintaining an appropriate level of safety in the financial services industry.

Privacy and Security

Federal law establishes a minimum federal standard of financial privacy by, among other provisions, requiring banks to adopt and disclose privacy policies with respect to consumer information and setting forth certain rules with respect to the disclosure to third parties of consumer information. The Corporation has adopted and disseminated its privacy policies pursuant to law. Regulations adopted under the federal law set standards for protecting the security, confidentiality and integrity of customer information, and require notice to regulators, and in some cases, to customers, in the event of security breaches. A number of states have adopted their own statutes concerning financial privacy and requiring notification of security breaches.

Consumer Laws and Regulations

In addition to the laws and regulations discussed above, the Corporation’s banking subsidiaries are also subject to certain consumer laws and regulations that are designed to protect consumers in transactions with banks.

Many states and local jurisdictions have consumer protection laws analogous, and in addition to, those listed above. These laws and regulations mandate certain disclosure requirements and regulate the manner in which financial institutions must deal with customers and monitor account activity when taking deposits, making loans to or engaging in other types of transactions with such customers. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could lead to substantial penalties, operating restrictions and reputational damage to the financial institution. The creation of the CFPB by the Dodd-Frank Act is likely to lead to enhanced and strengthened enforcement of consumer financial protection laws.

Future Legislation

Federal, state, local and non-U.S. legislators and regulators regularly introduce measures or take actions that would modify the regulatory requirements applicable to banks, thrifts, their holding companies and their affiliates. Such legislation may change the banking statutes and the operating environment of the Corporation and its subsidiaries in substantial and unpredictable ways. The Corporation cannot determine the ultimate effect that future legislation or implementing regulations might have upon the financial condition or results of operations of the Corporation or its subsidiaries.

STAFF

Northern Trust employed approximately 14,100 full-time equivalent officers and staff members as of December 31, 2011.

Additional statistical information on a consolidated basis is set forth below. Certain reclassifications have been made to prior periods’ financial information to conform to the current year’s presentation.

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