'Barclays plc' (, , ) is a global financial services provider operating in
Europe, the
United States, the
Middle East,
Latin America,
Australia,
Asia and
Africa. It is a
holding company that is listed in
London and
New York. It consists almost solely of 'Barclays Bank plc'.
Barclays plc is the 4th largest financial services provider in the world by
Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion), and the 28th largest in the world by
market capitalization ($71.6 billion). It is the
third largest bank in the
United Kingdom based on assets.
[1]
The bank's headquarters are at
One Churchill Place in
Canary Wharf, in London's
Docklands, having moved there in May 2005 from
Lombard Street in the
City of London. Barclays' U.S. headquarters are at
Park Avenue,
New York.
According to a March 20 joint press release,
[2][3] Barclays is negotiating a merger with
ABN AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands, which is under pressure from hedge funds to consider a merger or asset sale to bolster its lagging share price.
[4] As of 24 April, a $91 billion merger has now been agreed in principle, before shareholders approve the merger. It should be noted that the
Royal Bank of Scotland is currently leading a $72 billion consortium counter-bid for ABN AMRO.
To help finance its bid for ABN AMRO, Barclays could possibly sell a 7% stake to the Chinese government and a 3% stake to the investment arm of the Singaporean government.
Barclays' history
This
bank traces its roots back to
1685 in
London. The name "Barclays" became associated with the business in 1736.
[5]
;Timeline:
★
1896 — Several banks in London and the English provinces unite under the banner of Barclays and Co
★
1905–
1916 — Acquisitions of small English banks extends the branch network
★
1918 — Barclays amalgamates with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank
★
1919 The British Linen Bank was acquired by Barclays Bank based though it retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own bank notes.
★
1965 — Barclays establishes a US affiliate, Barclays Bank of California in
San Francisco.
★
1966 —
Barclaycard launched, the first credit card in the UK
★
1967 — Barclays unveils the first
ATM cash machine
★
1969 — Acquisition of
Martins Bank
★
1969 The
British Linen Bank subsidiary sold to the
Bank of Scotland in exchange for a 25% stake
★
1985 — Barclays Bank, and Barclays Bank International merge. As part of the corporate reorganisation, the former Barclays Bank plc becomes a group holding company, renamed as ''Barclays plc''. UK retail banking is integrated under the former BBI, and renamed ''Barclays Bank plc''.
★
1986 — Barclays sells its
South African operations under the
Barclays National Bank name due to protests against Barclays involvement in a country that was under
apartheid at the time.
★ 1986 — Buys
de Zoete & Bevan and
Wedd Durlacher to form BZW, to take advantage of
Big Bang on the London Stock Exchange
★
1988 — Barclays sells Barclays Bank of California to
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
★
1994 —
Edgar Pearce, the "Mardi Gras Bomber" begins a terror campaign against the bank
★
1996 — Buys Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors (WFNIA) and merges it with BZW Investment Management to form
Barclays Global Investors
★
1998 — BZW business broken up, parts sold to
Credit Suisse First Boston. Retains debt business which forms the foundation of what is now Barclays Capital.
★
1999 — In an unusual move as part of the trend at the time for
free ISPs Barclays launched an internet service called Barclays.net. This entity has since been taken over by
British Telecom in 2001.
★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>/http://www.barclays.net
★
2000 — Acquisition of Woolwich plc (formerly the
Woolwich Building Society)
★
2001 — Barclays closes 171 branches in the
UK, many of them in rural communities. Calls itself 'THE BIG BANK', this is quickly pushed under the carpet after a series of embarrassing PR stunts.
★
2003 — Barclays buys American credit card company Juniper Bank from
CIBC, re-branding it as "Barclays Bank Delaware". Acquisition of
Banco Zaragozano, the 11th Spanish bank.
★
2005 — Barclays seals £2.6bn takeover of
Absa Group Limited,
South Africa's largest retail bank, acquiring a 54% stake on
July 27
★
2006 — Barclays purchases HomEq servicing corporation for $469 million in cash from
Wachovia Corp.
★
2006 — Acquisition of the financial website
Comparetheloan.
★ 2006 — Barclays announces plans to rebrand Woolwich branches as Barclays, migrating Woolwich customers onto Barclays accounts and migrating back-office processes onto Barclays systems. The Woolwich brand will be used for Barclays mortgages.
★
2007 — Barclays announced it purchased naming rights to the
Barclays Center, a proposed 18,000-seat arena in
Brooklyn, New York, where the
New Jersey Nets plan to relocate.
★ 2007 — Barclays agrees to purchase Equifirst Corporation from Regions Financial Corporation for $225 million.
★
2007 — Barclays launches a bid on
Dutch ABN Amro aiming to create the 4th largest financial institution in the world.
★ 2007 — Barclays has been rumored to have offered 50 million for the domain name
www.iMoney.com.
Constituents of the Barclays Group
★ Barclays Bank plc
★ Mercers Debt Collection Agency
★
Barclays Bank Delaware (formerly Barclaycard US, originally Juniper Bank, acquired 2003)
★ Barclays Retail Bank — UK clearing bank
★ Barclays Business Bank — UK bank
★ Barclays Wealth — Stockbrokers,
Offshore and
Private bank
★ Barclays Private Clients International Ltd. — subsidiary based in the
Isle of Man with branches in the
Channel Islands
★
Barclays Private Equity
★
Barclaycard — Global credit card business
★
Barclaycard US — Separate from the Barclaycard global operation, this is the corporation's US credit card operation (formerly known as "Juniper Bank.)" Issues branded credit cards such as US Airways, Midwest Airlines, and Frontier Airlines MasterCard, as well as Airtran Airways Visa card.
★
Barclays Capital —
Investment bank
★
Barclays Global Investors —
Investment management company
★
Woolwich plc — UK mortgage brand
★ Barclays Africa — To be transferred to ABSA (South Africa)
★ Barclays Spain
★ Barclays Portugal
★ Barclays France
★
Absa Group Limited (
South Africa)
★
Firstplus Financial Group plc
Key management
Board of Directors
★
Marcus Agius - Group Chairman
★
Sir Nigel Rudd - Deputy Chairman
★ Fulvio Conti - Non Executive Director
★ Sir Richard Broadbent - Senior Independent Director
★ Richard Leigh Clifford - Non Executive Director
★ Professor Dame Sandra Dawson - Non Executive Director
★ Sir Andrew Likierman - Non Executive Director
★ Stephen Russell - Non Executive Director
★ Sir John Sunderland - Non Executive Director
★ Dr. Danie Cronjé - Non Executive Director, Chairman of Absa
Group Executive Committee
★
John Varley - Group Chief Executive (board member)
★
Robert E. Diamond Jr - President, Barclays plc (board member)
★
Frits Seegers - Chief Executive Officer, Global Retail & Commercial Bank (board member)
★
Paul Idzik - Group Chief Operating Officer
★
Chris Lucas - Group Finance Director (board member)
Office of the Chairman
★ Chairman - Marcus Agius
★
★ Chief of Staff - Michael Drexler
Office of the Group Chief Executive
★ Group Chief Executive - John Varley
★
★ Senior Corporate Financial Advisor - Naguib Kheraj
★
★ Executive Assistant - Clare Losty
Group Chief Operating Office
★ Chief Operating Officer - Paul Idzik
★
★ Chief Information Officer - Robert Rickert
★
★ Chief Administrative Officer - Mike Foley
★
★ Director of Corporate Affairs - Stephen Whitehead
★
★ Director of Global Strategy - Issac Krymolowski
★
★ Director of Human Resources - Cathy Turner
Group Finance Director
★ Group Finance Director - Chris Lucas
★
★ Treasurer - Jon Stone
★
★ Property Director - Christopher Davies
★
★ Tax Director - TBC
★
★ General Counsel - Mark Harding (reporting to John Varley)
★
★ Company Secretary - Lawrence Dickinson
★
★ Group Risk Director - Robert Le Blanc
Global Retail and Commercial Banking
★ Chief Executive Officer - Frits Seegers
★
★ CEO, UK Retail Banking - Deanna Oppenheimer
★
★ CEO, UK Business Banking - Christopher Grigg
★
★ UK Banking Finance Director - Peter Herbert
★
★ CEO, New Markets - Ahmed Khan
★
★ Head of Product and CEO, Western Europe - Leo Salom
★
★ CEO, Sub-Saharan Africa and Absa - Steve Booysen
★
★ Chief Operating Officer - Paul Idzik
Office of the President
★ President -
Robert E. Diamond, Jr.
★
★ Chief Executive, Barclays Wealth - Tom Kalaris
★
★ Chief Executive, Barclays Global Investors - Blake Grossman
★
★ Co-president, Barclays Capital - Jerry del Messier
★
★ Co-president, Barclays Capital - Grant Kvalheim
Office of the Group Vice Chairman
★ Group Vice Chairman - Gary Hoffman
Organizational Structure
Barclays is headed by Marcus Agius, the Group Chairman, who joined the Board on September 1, 2006 and succeeded Matthew Barrett as Chairman from January 1, 2007. Mr. Agius is also the senior executive Director of the BBC and was formerly Chairman of Lazard in London and a Deputy Chairman of Lazard LLC until December 31, 2006.
Reporting directly to the Group Chairman is John Varley, the Group Chief Executive who is responsible for the strategic direction and planning of all Barclays operations. John was appointed to the role on September 1, 2004 prior to which he served as Deputy Chief Executive (January-September 2004) and Group Finance Director (2000-2003). John is assisted by Clare Losty, his Executive Secretary.
The day to day management of the Barclays group is conducted by the Group Chief Operating Officer, Paul Idzik. Since joining Barclays in 1999 he had served as Chief Operating Officer of Barclays Capital prior to assuming his current position in November 2004. His career with Booz Allen Hamilton prior to joining Barclays established him as one of the leading management consultants for finance.
Naguib Kheraj is approaching the end of his tenure as Group Finance Director. He has served in this capacity since January 1, 2004 and leaves his post on March 31, 2007. He has previously served as Chief Executive of Barclays Private Clients, Deputy Chairman of Barclays Global Investors, Global Head of Investment Banking and Global Chief Operating Officer at Barclays Capital. He will be replaced by Chris Lucas who joins Barclays on April 1, 2007 from Price Waterhouse Cooper where he has been UK Head of Financial Services and Global Head of Banking and Capital Markets.
Chris will assume responsibility for most of Naguib's current responsibilities including; Group Treasurer, Group Property Director, Company Secretary, Barclays Tax Director, and the Group Risk Director. However, the Office of the General Counsel, headed by Mark Harding will now report directly to John Varley.
The operating units of Barclays are grouped under two umberellas; International Banking and Investment Banking (IB&IM) and Global Retail and Commercial Banking (GRCB). The former is headed by Robert E. Diamond, Jr. the President of Barclays plc. The latter is headed by Chief Executive of GRCB, Frits Seegers.
IB&IM oversees three core operating units; Barclays Capital, Barclays Global Investors and Barclays Wealth Management.
GRCB oversees multiple operating units. Principally it has responsibility for UK Retail Banking (UKRB), UK Business Banking (UKBB), Barclaycard and International Retail and Commercial Banking (IR&CB).
The IR&CB function was previously headed by David Roberts, who has now departed Barclays, before falling under the larger umberella of GR&CB. The core units of IR&CB are Barclays operations in South Africa (Absa), Western Europe (including Spain, Portugal, Italy and France) and emerging markets (such as Sub Saharan Africa, India, Egypt, North Africa, UAE and the Gulf states).
UK Banking and Barclaycard were formerly directed by Gary Hoffman in his role as Chairman but his sideways move into the role of Group Vice Chairman, responsible for franchise health and corporate responsibility, has seen Deanna Oppenheimer, Christopher Grigg and Antony Jenkins appointed as operating unit Chief Executive Officers. Peter Harvey, formerly the Chief Executive for UK Business Banking has recently moved sideways into the role of UK Banking Vice Chairman and in this role he supports both Deanna and Christopher (as well as Frits Seegers) in the implementation of the overall UK banking strategy.
Branches
Barclays has many UK high street branches. Barclays has also joined up with the
Post Office Ltd to provide personal banking services to customers who live near a Post Office branch and those who need financial services such as secured or unsecured loans.
Most Barclays branches have 24/7 ATMs. Barclays customers and customers of many other banks can use Barclays ATMs free of charge.
Barclays is a member of the
Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their
ATM card or
cheque card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are:
★
Barclays (
United Kingdom),
★
Bank of America (
United States),
★
BNP Paribas (
France),
★
Deutsche Bank (
Germany),
★ Santander Serfin (
Mexico),
★
Scotiabank (
Canada) and
★
Westpac (
Australia and
New Zealand)
★
HYPO Alpe Adria Group (
Austria) and all countries.
[6]
Sponsorships
From 2004 onwards, Barclays has sponsored the
Premier League and, from 2006, the
Churchill Cup.
Barclays' legal situation
Currently, a
South African activist group, the
Jubilee South Africa backed
Khulumani Support Group, is seeking reparations from Barclays in addition to
Citigroup,
BP,
Royal Dutch Shell,
Ford,
GM, and
Deutsche Bank for their roles indirectly supporting the
apartheid government in
South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. The legal proceedings are being heard at the
Second Circuit Court of Appeals in
New York, and the South African
Ministry of Justice is seeking dismissal of the case on the grounds that it undermines its sovereignty.
[7]
Merger with ABN-AMRO
Seen by Barclays as a significant opportunity to accelerate their strategy to become a global bank the proposed combination with ABN-AMRO would combine advantages for both customers and shareholders. The intent at the heart of the merger is to preserve the strengths and values of both businesses.
A unitary board structure would be the method of corporate governance and the structure would see UK incorporation, an HQ in Amsterdam (although the offices at Canary Wharf would be retained for UK operations) and the UK Financial Services Authority as lead regulator.
A component part of ABN,
LaSalle Bank is to be sold for $21 billion with competition for that arm of the business expected to develop before any combination with Barclays.
The proposed board structure would see 9 members from ABN-AMRO and 10 from Barclays with ABN chief Arthur Martinez assuming the role of Chairman and Barclays current chairman, Marcus Agius, becoming Deputy Chairman.
The proposed executive committee combines the strengths of both businesses and would be led by John Varley who would continue to serve as Group Chief Executive with Robert E. Diamond as Group President and CEO of Investment Management and International Banking.
Six other individuals would round out the proposed ExCo with three faces from the current Barclays ExCo and three from ABNs. From Barclays, Frits Seegers, Paul Idzik and Chris Lucas would continue in their roles as CEO for Global Retail & Commercial, Chief Operating Officer and Group Finance Director respectively.
They would be joined by Huibert Boumeester as Group Chief Administrative Officer (marking a split within the current Barclays COO function); Ron Teerlink who would assume the role of Chief Operating Officer for Global Retail & Commercial; and Piero Overmars who would become CEO for Continental Europe and Asia within the Global Retail & Commercial function.
Financial Problems
On August 30 2007, Barclays was forced to borrow £1.6bn ($3.2bn) from the
Bank of England sterling standby facility. This is made available as a last-resort when banks are unable to settle their debts to other banks at the end of daily trading.
A Barclays spokesman was quoted as saying `There are no liquidity issues in the U.K markets. Barclays itself is flush with liquidity.'
[8]
See also
★
European Financial Services Roundtable
Notes
1. Time to Bank on Barclays: Despite last year's advance, shares of Barclays have further room to run in 2007
2. http://www.newsroom.barclays.co.uk/content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=985&NewsAreaID=2
3. http://www.abnamro.com/pressroom/releases/2007/2007-03-20-en.jsp
4. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/business/19deal.html?ref=business
5. Company History See also: ''Barclays: The Business of Banking, 1690-1996'' by Margaret Ackrill and Leslie Hannah; Cambridge UP, 2001 ISBN 0-52179-035-2
6. "Five big banks form Global ATM Alliance", ATMmarketplace.com. January 9, 2002. Accessed June 22, 2007.
7. Barclays faces apartheid court action. Julia Kollewe, 21 January 2006.
8. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aqA8hFXWD3JY&refer=uk
References
★
Top 1000 World Banks 2006
★
''Barry's Newsroom''
External links
★
Barclays' corporate website
★
Barclays' UK careers website
★
Barclays' UK graduate careers website
★
Profile for Barclays plc (BCS)
★
Barclays Bank plc Company Profile
★
Barclays Bank plc stock quote & chart
★
★ http://www.springbokradio.com/ADSBARCLAYS.html (South African 1982 Radio Commercial)
★ http://www.boycottbarclays.co.uk (The Barclays SAM Scam)
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