Barclays 2006 Annual Report Download - page 152

Barclays PLC
Annual Report 2006
148
Presentation of Information
Barclays PLC is a public limited company registered in England and
Wales under company number 48839. The Company, originally named
Barclay & Company Limited, was incorporated in England and Wales on
20th July 1896 under the Companies Acts 1862 to 1890 as a company
limited by shares. The company name was changed to Barclays Bank
Limited on 17th February 1917 and it was reregistered in 1982 as a
public limited company under the Companies Acts 1948 to 1980.
On 1st January 1985, the company changed its name to Barclays PLC.
Barclays Bank PLC is a public limited company registered in England and
Wales under company number 1026167. The Bank was incorporated on
7th August 1925 under the Colonial Bank Act 1925 and on 4th October
1971 was registered as a company limited by shares under the
Companies Acts 1948 to 1967. Pursuant to The Barclays Bank Act 1984,
on 1st January 1985 the Bank was reregistered as a public limited
company and its name was changed from Barclays Bank International
Limited to Barclays Bank PLC.
All of the issued ordinary share capital of Barclays Bank PLC is owned
by Barclays PLC. The Annual Report for Barclays PLC also contains the
consolidated accounts of, and other information relating to, Barclays
Bank PLC. The Annual Report includes information required to be
included in the Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC Annual Report on
Form 20-F for 2006. Form 20-F will contain as exhibits certificates
pursuant to Sections 302 and 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
signed by the Group Chief Executive and Group Finance Director, with
respect to both Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC. Except where
otherwise indicated, the information given is identical with respect to
both Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC.
The accounts of Barclays Bank PLC included in this document do not
comprise statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the
Companies Act 1985. The statutory accounts of Barclays Bank PLC,
which contain an unqualified audit report and do not contain any
statement under Section 237(2) or (3) of that Act, will be delivered to
the Registrar of Companies in accordance with Section 242 of that Act
and are published as a separate document.
The term ‘Barclays PLC Group’ means Barclays PLC together with its
subsidiary and the term ‘Barclays Bank PLC Group’ means Barclays Bank
PLC together with its subsidiaries. ‘Barclays’ and ‘Group’ are terms which
are used to refer to either of the preceding groups when the subject
matter is identical. The term ‘Company’ or ‘parent Company’ refers to
Barclays PLC and the term ‘Bank’ refers to Barclays Bank PLC. The term
‘Absa Group Limited’ is used to refer to Absa Group Limited and its
subsidiaries and the term ‘Absa’ is used to refer to the component of the
International Retail and Commercial Banking segment represented by
this business. In this report, the abbreviations ‘£m’ and ‘£bn’ represent
millions and thousands of millions of pounds sterling respectively; the
abbreviations ‘US$m’ and ‘US$bn’ represent millions and thousands of
millions of US Dollars respectively and ‘¤m’ and ‘¤bn’ represent millions
and thousands of millions of euros respectively.
Statutory Accounts
The consolidated accounts of Barclays PLC and its subsidiary are set out
on pages 151 to 274 along with the accounts of Barclays PLC itself on
page 166. The consolidated accounts of Barclays Bank PLC and its
subsidiaries are set out on pages 278 to 289. The accounting policies on
pages 151 to 160 and the Notes commencing on page 168 apply
equally to both sets of accounts unless otherwise stated.
Adoption of IFRS and 2004 comparatives
The Group adopted the requirements of International Financial
Reporting Standards and International Accounting Standards
(collectively IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union in 2005. As
permitted by IFRS 1, the accounting standards relating to financial
instruments and insurance contracts have not been applied to 2004.
Therefore, the 2004 comparatives are significantly different from the
numbers reported in 2005 and 2006. N/a has been included in tables
where, as a result of the application of IAS 32, IAS 39 and IFRS 4 in 2005
and 2006 and UK GAAP in 2004, the disclosure is not applicable.
Presentation of information