Barclays 2014 Annual Report Download - page 4

02 I Barclays PLC Annual Report 2014 barclays.com/annualreport
Our approach
Becoming ‘Go-To’
Chairman’s statement
The Barclays of today is a very different bank to the one
that I joined in 2012.
From substantially improving our capital and leverage position to
changing how we measure and reward performance through the
Balanced Scorecard, we have made significant progress towards our
goal of becoming the partner of choice for all our stakeholders. Indeed,
we have accelerated the speed of this journey over the past 12 months.
Our Purpose and Values are becoming embedded in the fabric of
Barclays, fundamentally changing how we do business for the better.
You can read more about our values-driven culture in the following
pages.
In May of 2014 your Board endorsed a strategy update which created
a reshaped Barclays, one that is better balanced, more focused, and
positioned to succeed over the long term and deliver for shareholders.
While there is much still to do, I am encouraged by the progress that
we have made so far in executing those plans.
This report provides detail on the performance of our four core
businesses: Personal & Corporate Banking, Barclaycard, Africa, and
the Investment Bank. You will see that these operations are delivering
positive results which are encouraging for shareholders.
Importantly, we have made significant advances in resolving legacy
issues in the course of 2014 through working more closely and
constructively than ever with our regulators across the world. The
Board and I consider the conduct and practices that led to these issues
are entirely inconsistent with the values to which we hold ourselves
today. Our proactive efforts in resolving these issues will continue
throughout 2015 and stand testament to our commitment to do
business in the right way, putting issues that have been so damaging
to our reputation behind us and supporting greater resilience,
transparency, and sustainability for the long-term.
The banking sector will continue to face serious challenges associated
with global uncertainty which is not only economic but also
increasingly political and regulatory, in particular in several of the key
geographies in which Barclays operates. Specifically, there will be
significant change in the UK as we work to implement the ring-fencing
requirements of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013,
as well as in the US to implement the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act
and other measures to complete the banking reform agenda;
all of which are intended to eradicate the prospect of ‘too big to fail’.
Despite the difficulties that they entail I have every confidence in
Barclays’ ability to deliver against these challenges.
Barclays is 325 years old this year, 2015. By any standard of corporate
longevity this is a remarkable achievement. The relentless focus of
your Board and the Executive team has been, and will continue to be,
on ensuring that the bank is primed for success for many more
generations to come. We will continue to build on the solid foundations
we have put in place to deliver on our commitments to customers,
clients, colleagues, shareholders and broader society. Every year a new
chapter is written into the history of this great institution and it has
been a huge privilege to serve in the role of Chairman during what,
I am sure, will be considered in the future to have been an important,
positively transformational, period in Barclays’ history.
I wish this great bank, its shareholders, and John McFarlane, my
successor as Chairman, every success for the future.
Sir David Walker
Chairman
We will fulfil our purpose
and achieve our goal
Individuals, corporations, countries
and society need access to essential
banking services
Achieving this will enable us to build
a lower-risk, better performing bank
Our purpose
is to help people achieve their
ambitions in the right way
Our goal
is to become the ‘Go-To’ bank
for our clients, customers,
colleagues and our stakeholders