Barclays 2005 Annual Report Download - page 48

Barclays PLC
Annual Report 2005
46
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
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 to be
included in the Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC Annual Report on
Form 20-F for 2005. 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
subsidiaries 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. ‘Woolwich plc’ is used, as the context requires, to refer to
Woolwich plc and its subsidiaries. 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
‘$m’ and ‘$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 134 to 299 along with the accounts of Barclays PLC itself
on page 134. The consolidated accounts of Barclays Bank PLC and its
subsidiaries are set out on pages 287 to 299. The accounting policies
on pages 134 to 145 and the Notes commencing on page 154 apply
equally to both sets of accounts unless otherwise stated.
Adoption of IFRS
The Group has adopted the requirements of International Financial
Reporting Standards and International Accounting Standards
(collectively IFRS) as adopted by the European Union for the first time
for the purpose of preparing financial statements for the year ended
31st December 2005. The IFRS accounting policies, including the
choices made under IFRS 1 for the transition are set out, on pages 134
to 145.
First-time application of IFRS relating to Financial Instruments
and Insurance Contracts
In addition to the options described above, IFRS 1 also includes specific
transitional provisions for International Accounting Standard 32,
‘Financial Instruments, Disclosure and Presentation’, International
Accounting Standard 39, ‘Financial Instruments – Recognition and
Measurement’ and International Financial Reporting Standard 4,
‘Insurance Contracts’. The Group has decided to adopt these provisions
and therefore has not applied these standards to the 2004
comparatives. The impact of these standards is reflected through
further adjustments to shareholders’ equity as at 1st January 2005.
In the 2004 comparatives, financial instruments and insurance
contracts are included using the measurement bases and the
disclosure requirements of UK GAAP relating to financial instruments
and insurance contracts.
Whilst the change in accounting standards has no impact on the
underlying economics or risk of the business, the 2004 results under
IFRS are different from the Group’s previously provided 2004 results
under UK GAAP. In addition, since, as permitted by IFRS 1, the
accounting standards relating to financial instruments and insurance
contracts have not been applied to 2004, the comparatives are
significantly different from the numbers reported in 2005. The effect of
the transition and a description of the differences between UK GAAP
and IFRS accounting policies are set out in Note 62 on pages 238
to 261.
N/a has been included in the tables where, as a result of the
application of IAS 32, IAS 39 and IFRS 4 in 2005 and UK GAAP in 2004,
the disclosure is not applicable.
Presentation of information