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 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 third largest bank in the United Kingdom based on market capitalisation.

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.

History

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.

Timeline

• 1896 — Several banks in London and the English provinces, notably Backhouse's Bank of Darlington and Gurney's Bank of Norwich, unite under the banner of Barclays and Co., a joint-stock bank
• 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 though it retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own bank notes.
• 1924 — Planned takeover of National Bank of Kingston reaches near-completion but halted three days before finalisation
• 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 at Enfield, north London.
• 1969 — Planned merger with Martins Bank and Lloyds Bank; forbidden by the Mergers and Monopolies Commission
• 1969 — Acquisition of Martins Bank allowed
• 1969 — The British Linen Bank subsidiary sold to the Bank of Scotland in exchange for a 25% stake (effective from March 1971).
• 1984 — record profits posted
• 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 after protests against Barclays' involvement in South Africa and its apartheid government.
• 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 and the supermarket chain Sainsbury's
• 1996 — Buys Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors (WFNIA) and merges it with BZW Investment Management to form Barclays Global Investors
• 1998 — BZW business is broken up and 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 launches an internet service called Barclays.net. This entity is acquired by British Telecom in 2001.
• 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" but this is quickly given a low profile 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.
• 2004 — Barclays takes over the Premier League as a sponsor from Barclaycard
• 2005 — Barclays seals £2.6bn takeover of Absa Group Limited, South Africa's largest retail bank, acquiring a 54% stake on 27 July
• 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 announces that it has purchased the 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 announces a merger with (effectively a takeover of) the Dutch bank ABN AMRO. This prompts a separate bid for the Dutch bank from a consortium led by the RBS Group and comprising of the Belgian bank Fortis and the Spanish bank Santander, under the name RFS (Royal/Fortis/Santander}.
• 2007 — Barclays agrees to purchase Equifirst Corporation from Regions Financial Corporation for $225 million.
• 2007 — Barclays withdraws the bid for ABN AMRO allowing the Royal Bank of Scotland led consortium to succeed with their offer.
• 2007 — Barclays Personal Investment Management announce the closure of their International office in Peterborough and its re-siting to Glasgow, laying off nearly 900 members of staff.
• 2008 — Barclays buys the credit card brand Goldfish for $70 million gaining 1.7 million customers, and $3.9 billion in receivables
• 2008 — Barclays buys a controlling stake in Russian retail bank Expobank for $745 million
• 2008 — Barclays commences its Pakistan operations with $100 million
• 2008 — Barclays buys Lehman Brothers North American investment banking assets totalling $1.3 billion