VALLEY NATIONAL BANCORP

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors

Valley National Bancorp:

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial condition of Valley National Bancorp and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, changes in shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2025, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2025, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated February 27, 2026 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company 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 audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Allowance for loan losses

As discussed in Notes 1 and 4 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s total allowance for loan losses (the ALL) as of December 31, 2025 was $583.4 million, of which $501.4 million related to the loans collectively evaluated for credit losses (the collective ALL). The collective ALL includes the measure of expected credit losses on a collective basis for those loans that share similar risk characteristics. In estimating the collective ALL, the Company uses a transition matrix model which calculates an expected life of loan loss percentage for each loan pool by using probability of default (PD) and loss given default (LGD) metrics. The PD and LGD metrics are adjusted using a scaling factor to incorporate a full economic cycle. The expected life of loan loss percentages are determined by analyzing the migration of loans from performing to loss by credit quality rating or delinquency categories using historical life-of-loan data for each loan portfolio pool, and by assessing the severity of loss, based on the aggregate net lifetime losses incurred. The expected credit losses are adjusted for qualitative factors not reflected in the transition matrix model but are likely to impact the measurement of estimated credit losses. The qualitative factors include a two-year reasonable and supportable forecast period followed by a one-year period over which estimated losses revert to historical loss experience on a straight-line basis for the remaining life of the loan. The forecast consists of multi-scenario economic forecasts which are assigned relative probability weightings and projects economic variables under each scenario. The expected lifetime loss rates are the life of loan loss percentages from the transition matrix model plus the impact of the adjustments for the qualitative factors. The expected credit losses are the product of multiplying the model’s lifetime loss rates by the exposure at default at period end.

We identified the assessment of the collective ALL as a critical audit matter. A high degree of audit effort, including specialized skills and knowledge, and subjective and complex auditor judgment was involved in the assessment of the ALL due to estimation uncertainty. Specifically, the assessment of the collective ALL encompassed the evaluation of the collective ALL methodology and the transition matrix model used to estimate the expected life of loan loss percentages and its significant assumptions, including the scaling factor. The assessment of the collective ALL also included an evaluation of the conceptual soundness and performance of the transition matrix model utilized to derive the expected life of loan loss percentages. In addition, the assessment also encompassed the conceptual soundness of the methodology utilized to estimate the qualitative factors and their related significant assumptions, including the selection of the multi-scenario economic forecasts and related weightings, and weightings of certain qualitative factors. In addition, auditor judgment was required to evaluate the sufficiency of audit evidence obtained.

The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls related to the Company’s measurement of the collective ALL estimate, including controls over the:

•development of the collective ALL methodology

•continued use and appropriateness of the transition matrix model

•performance monitoring of the transition matrix model

•identification and determination of the significant assumptions used in the transition matrix model

•identification of qualitative factors and development of the qualitative framework, including the significant assumptions used in the measurement of the qualitative factors

•analysis of the collective ALL results, trends and ratios.

We evaluated the Company’s process to develop the collective ALL by testing certain sources of data, factors, and assumptions that the Company used, and considered the relevance and reliability of such data, factors and assumptions. In addition, we involved credit risk professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in:

•evaluating the Company’s collective ALL methodology for compliance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles

•evaluating the judgments made by the Company relative to the assessment and performance monitoring of the transition matrix model used to calculate the expected life of loan loss percentages by comparing them to Company-specific metrics and trends and the applicable industry and regulatory practices

•testing the conceptual soundness and performance of the transition matrix model by inspecting the model documentation to determine whether the model is suitable for the intended use

•evaluating the judgments made by management relative to the Company’s scaling factor by inspecting documentation to determine whether the assumption is suitable to incorporate a full economic cycle

•evaluating the selection of the multi-scenario economic forecasts and economic variables and related weightings by comparing them to the Company’s business environment and relevant industry practices

•evaluating the methodology used to develop the qualitative factors and their significant assumptions and the effect of those factors on the collective ALL by comparing to the specific portfolio risk characteristics, trends and relevant industry practices and identified limitations of the underlying quantitative models.

We also assessed the sufficiency of the audit evidence obtained related to the collective ALL estimate by evaluating the cumulative results of the audit procedures, qualitative aspects of the Company’s accounting practices and potential bias in the accounting estimate.

/s/ KPMG LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2008.

New York, New York

February 27, 2026