Barclays 2005 Annual Report Download - page 135

Barclays PLC
Annual Report 2005 133
3.4
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm’s report
Report of the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm to
the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Barclays PLC and
Barclays Bank PLC
We have audited the accompanying consolidated financial statements
of Barclays PLC and its subsidiary undertakings on pages 147 to 282
and Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiary undertakings on pages 287
to 299 as of 31st December 2005 and 2004, which comprise the
Consolidated Income Statements, the Consolidated Balance Sheets, the
Consolidated Cash Flow Statements, and the Consolidated Statement
of Recognised Income and Expense, for each of the two years in the
period ended 31st December 2005. These financial statements are the
responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free
of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis,
evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, as well as
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that
our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above
present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Barclays
PLC and its subsidiary undertakings and Barclays Bank PLC and its
subsidiary undertakings at 31st December 2005 and 2004, and the
results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the two
years in the period ended 31st December 2005 in conformity with
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by
the European Union.
Accounting principles in conformity with IFRSs as adopted by the
European Union vary in certain significant respects from accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Information relating to the nature and effect of such differences is
presented in Note 63 to the consolidated financial statements.
As discussed in the Significant Accounting Policies of the consolidated
financial statements, the Group has applied International Financial
Reporting Standards with effect from 1st January 2004, the date of
transition in accordance with the transitional provisions set out in
IFRS 1, ‘First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting
Standards’. Previously, the Group followed the generally accepted
principles of the United Kingdom (‘UK GAAP’).
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors
London, United Kingdom
9th March 2006