Northern Trust Corp. said it plans to remain a standalone company following an approach from Bank of New York Mellon Corp. about a possible merger.
“While our policy is to not comment on market rumors, I can tell you that Northern Trust is fully committed to remaining independent and continuing to deliver long-term value to our stakeholders,” a spokesperson for the Chicago-based firm said in a statement.
The chief executive officers of the banks had a discussion last week, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The firms didn’t discuss a specific offer, the person said.
A representative for BNY declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks.
Shares in Northern Trust closed up 8% in New York after climbing more than 10% on Monday.
A tie-up would bring together two of the largest custodian banks in the world. Northern Trust has a market value of more than $23 billion following its share gains while BNY’s is roughly $64 billion.
Both firms offer services including custody of client assets, wealth and asset management and other banking business. BNY, founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1784, says it’s the world’s largest custody bank, with such assets surpassing $53 trillion as of the end of March.
The combined entity’s scale — including an estimated $3 trillion of assets under management — would help it compete with global asset managers like BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard, RBC analysts said in a research note.
Consolidating technology platforms, reducing headcount and real estate footprints could help cut Northern Trust’s expenses by 20% to 30%, the analysts estimated.
Under Chief Executive Officer Robin Vince, BNY has been in the midst of an overhaul aimed at cutting costs and streamlining the institution, as well as focusing on higher-margin businesses. Shares in the bank, which says it touches nearly 20% of the world’s investable assets, are up about 17% so far this year.
Some analysts and executives have said they’re optimistic more deals will win approval under President Donald Trump’s administration. Earlier this year, Capital One Financial Corp. received approval from U.S. regulators to buy Discover Financial Services in a deal creating the nation’s biggest credit-card issuer by loan volume.
Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.