BANNER CORP

Management of Banner is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). A control procedure, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that its objectives are met. Also, because of the inherent limitations in all control procedures, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues or instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. Additionally, in designing disclosure controls and procedures, Management applies judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of potential disclosure controls and procedures. The design of any disclosure controls and procedures is also based, in part, upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. As a result of these inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Further, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

(a)Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures: An evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Exchange Act) was carried out under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and other members of our senior management as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2025, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective in ensuring that the information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is (i) accumulated and communicated to management (including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer) in a timely manner, and (ii) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.

(b)Changes in Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting: There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter of the period covered by this Form 10-K that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting: Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Company included a report of Management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal controls beginning on page 66 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, Baker Tilly US, LLP, which audited the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2025 (included in Item 8 of this annual report), has issued an audit report on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting beginning on page 67 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.