Barclays 2003 Annual Report Download - page 38

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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 re-registered in 1982 as a
public limited company under 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 re-registered 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 on
Form 20-F. 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 undertakings and the term ‘Barclays Bank PLC Group’ means
Barclays Bank PLC together with its subsidiary undertakings. ‘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’ refers
to Barclays PLC and the term ‘Bank’ refers to Barclays Bank PLC.
‘Woolwich plc’ is used, as the context requires, to refer to Woolwich plc
and its subsidiary undertakings. In this report, the abbreviations ‘£m’ and
‘£bn’ represent millions and thousands of millions of pounds sterling
respectively; the abbreviations ‘$m’ and ‘$bn’ represent millions and
thousands of millions of US dollars respectively and ‘sm’ and ‘sbn’
represent millions and thousands of millions of euros respectively.
Statutory Accounts
The consolidated accounts of Barclays PLC and its subsidiary
undertakings are set out on pages 120 to 125 along with the accounts
of Barclays PLC itself on page 126. The consolidated accounts of
Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiary undertakings are set out on pages
208 to 213. The accounting policies on pages 114 to 119 and the Notes
commencing on page 127 apply equally to both sets of accounts unless
otherwise stated.
Presentation of Information