04.Barclays PLC , London , UK

Barclays PLC , London , UK

Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider operating in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It is a holding company that is listed in London, New York and Tokyo. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank PLC.

Barclays PLC is ranked as the 25th largest company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 (2008 list) and the fourth largest financial services provider in the world according to Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion). It is the second largest bank in the United Kingdom based on asset size.

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. The company also operates Barclays Bank of Delaware, which issues Juniper credit cards, one of the largest issuers of credit cards in the United States.

History

Early years
This bank traces its roots back to 1690 in London. The name "Barclays" became associated with the business in 1736, when James Barclay, son-in-law of one of the founders, became a partner in the business. In 1728, the bank moved to 54 Lombard Street, which was identified by the 'Sign of the Black Spread Eagle', over the years becoming a core part of the bank's identity.

In 1898 several banks in London and the English provinces, notably Backhouse's Bank of Darlington and Gurney's Bank of Norwich, united under the banner of Barclays and Co., a joint-stock bank. Between 1905 and 1916 Barclays extended its branch network by making acquisitions of small English banks.

Further expansion followed in 1918 when Barclays amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank and in 1919 when the British Linen Bank was acquired by Barclays Bank, although the British Linen Bank retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own bank notes. Then in 1924 the planned takeover of National Bank of Kingston reached near-completion but was halted three days before finalisation.

Post War
In 1965 Barclays established a US affiliate, Barclays Bank of California in San Francisco.
Barclaycard, the first credit card in the UK, was launched in 1966 and in 1967 Barclays unveiled the first ATM cash machine at Enfield, north London.
In 1969 the planned merger with Martins Bank and Lloyds Bank was blocked by the Mergers and Monopolies Commission but the acquisition of Martins Bank on its own was allowed. Also that year the British Linen Bank subsidiary was sold to the Bank of Scotland in exchange for a 25% stake, a transac0tion that became effective from March 1971.

The new millennium
The year 2000 saw the acquisition of Woolwich plc (formerly the Woolwich Building Society). Then in 2001 Barclays closed 171 branches in the UK, many of them in rural communities: Barclays called itself "THE BIG BANK" but this name was quickly given a low profile after a series of embarrassing PR stunts.

In 2003 Barclays bought the American credit card company Juniper Bank from CIBC, re-branding it as "Barclays Bank Delaware".The same year saw the acquisition of Banco Zaragozano, the 11th Spanish bank

Planned merger with ABN AMRO
In March 2007 Barclays announced plans to merge with ABN AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands.However, on 5 October 2007 Barclays announced that it had abandoned its bid, citing inadequate support by ABN shareholders. Fewer than 80% of shares had been tendered to Barclay's cash-and-shares offer.This left the consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland free to proceed with its $99.9 billion counter-bid for ABN AMRO.

To help finance its bid for ABN AMRO, Barclays sold a 3.1% stake to China Development Bank and a 3% stake to Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singaporean government.

Also in 2007 Barclays agreed to purchase Equifirst Corporation from Regions Financial Corporation for $225 million.That year also saw Barclays Personal Investment Management announcing the closure of their operation in Peterborough and its re-siting to Glasgow, laying off nearly 900 members of staff.
Recent developments

Reuters later reported that Britain would inject £40 billion ($69 billion) into three banks including Barclays, which might seek over 7 billion.[35] But Barclays later confirmed that it rejected the Government’s offer and would instead raise £6.5 billion of new capital (£2 billion by cancellation of dividend and £4.5 billion from private investors).

Recent developments
Reuters later reported that Britain would inject £40 billion ($69 billion) into three banks including Barclays, which might seek over 7 billion.[35] But Barclays later confirmed that it rejected the Government’s offer and would instead raise £6.5 billion of new capital (£2 billion by cancellation of dividend and £4.5 billion from private investors)