Barclays plc
Barclays PLC (, , ) is the third largest
bank in the
United Kingdom. The bank can trace its roots back to 1690 in
London. The name "Barclay" first arose in 1736. Today the bank is a global financial service provider operating in the
UK,
Europe,
United States, Asia and
Africa. 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. Barclay's US headquarters are in
New York at 200
Park Avenue. From 2004 onwards Barclays has sponsored the
FA Premier League.
Barclays PLC is the holding company that is listed on the
London,
New York and
Tokyo Stock Exchange. It consists almost solely of
Barclays Bank PLC.
*
1896 — several small London banks unite under the banner of Barclays and Co
*
1905–
1916 — acquisitions of small English banks extends the branch network
*
1918 — Barclays amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank
*
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*
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 (financial markets) 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*
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 had since been taken over by
British Telecom in 2001. [
1]
*
2000 — acquisition of Woolwich Plc (formerly the Woolwich Building Society)
*
2001 — Barclays closes more than 170 rural branches in the
UK*
2003 — Barclays buys American credit card company Juniper Bank from CIBC, re-branding it as "Barclays Bank Delaware"
*
2005 — Barclays seals £2.6bn takeover of
Absa,
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 — Barclays announces plans to re-brand
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.
*Barclays Bank Delaware (formerly Barclaycard US, originally Juniper Bank, acquired 2003)
*Barclays Retail Bank — UK clearing bank
*Barclays Business Bank — UK bank
*Barclays Wealth Management — Stockbrokers,
Offshore and
Private bank*Barclays Private Clients International Ltd. — subsidiary based in the
Isle of Man with branches in the
Channel Islands*
Barclaycard — Global credit card business
*
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 (
South Africa)
*FIRSTPLUS Financial Group PLC
*
Official site*
Yahoo! — Barclays Bank PLC Company Profile*
Barclays Bank UK*
Barclays Bank Delaware*
Barclays press release - Barclays puts Woolwich at heart of UK retail revitalisation
