Northern Trust Named a 2014 World’s Most Ethical Company by Ethisphere Institute

Northern Trust announced today that it has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, an independent research center promoting best practices in corporate ethics and governance, as a 2014 World’s Most Ethical Company®.

The award is designed to recognize organizations that demonstrate ethical corporate behavior and leadership, based on an evaluation of ethics and compliance programs; reputation; leadership and innovation; governance; corporate citizenship and responsibility; and culture of ethics.

"Northern Trust is honored to be recognized among companies that demonstrate an unwavering commitment to operating at the highest level of ethics,” Northern Trust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick H. Waddell said. “Every day we must earn the trust of our clients, shareholders, regulators, staff and the communities in which we live and work. Strong ethics and good governance are vital to our core values of service, expertise and integrity.”

In addition to this honor from Ethisphere, Northern Trust was recently recognized by FORTUNE Magazine in its annual rankings of the World’s Most Admired Companies. Northern Trust placed first in its category for “quality of products/services,” and overall tied for third place in the superregional bank category, the same ranking it received last year.

The National Association for Female Executives also recently recognized Northern Trust as one of the Top 50 Companies for Executive Women nationwide for the fifth consecutive year in 2014. The list honors organizations whose policies and practices support women’s advancement. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media.

“Northern Trust has a long history as a responsible corporate citizen, including cultivating a culture of diversity and inclusiveness and giving our employees the right tools and guidance to excel,” said Connie Lindsey, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Diversity & Inclusion at Northern Trust. “We’re honored that the Ethisphere Institute, FORTUNE, and the National Association for Female Executives have recognized our ongoing efforts to be a successful, innovative and inclusive organization.”

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient™ framework. The Ethics Quotient framework has been developed over years of effort to provide a means to assess an organization’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. The Ethics Quotient framework and methodology was determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere’s network of thought leaders and from the World’s Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (25%), reputation, leadership and innovation (20%), governance (10%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (25%) and culture of ethics (20%).

The full list of the 2014 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, banking solutions and fiduciary services for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. Northern Trust, a financial holding company based in Chicago, has offices in 18 U.S. states and 18 international locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of December 31, 2013, Northern Trust had assets under custody of US$5.6 trillion, and assets under investment management of US$884.5 billion. For more than 120 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader in combining exceptional service and expertise with innovative products and technology. For more information, visit www.northerntrust.com or follow us on Twitter @NorthernTrust.