Barclays 2012 Annual Report Download - page 44

Corporate governance report
Leadership continued
Board activity in 2012
The Board’s agenda in 2012 was dominated by the changing
regulatory environment and, in the latter half of 2012, by
consideration of the future direction and shape of the business
and its culture and values in light of both the external environment
and in the aftermath of the LIBOR announcement. Key activities
for the Board during the year included:
 reviewing strategic options open to the Group in its different
business areas in light of the regulatory and economic
environment.
 receiving updates from each of Barclays principal businesses
and discussing their progress against agreed strategy.
 discussing the implications of a statement by HMRC concerning
the repurchase of debt by Barclays.
 considering and approving the sale of Barclays interest in
BlackRock, Inc.
 discussing and agreeing Barclays ‘One Africa’ strategy, involving
the combination of the majority of Barclays operations in Africa
with Absa.
 considering the announcement of penalties relating to the
industry-wide investigation into the setting of interbank offered
rates and the subsequent events.
 discussing changes in the composition of the Board, including
approving the appointment of a new Chairman and a new Chief
Executive.
 reviewing a report on compliance and internal audit lessons
learned from the LIBOR incident.
 discussing and reviewing progress of the work implemented by
Antony Jenkins as part of the Transform Programme, including
a review of business performance, costs, funding and liquidity
matters and a discussion of Barclays purpose, values and
behaviours.
 considering and approving Barclays risk appetite, liquidity risk
appetite and the Group’s capital plan.
 receiving regular updates on global economic conditions and
regulatory developments and the outlook for the industry.
During 2012, the Board held two informal meetings with
representatives from the FSA to ensure that all Directors had the
opportunity to hear first-hand from Barclays principal regulator
and exchange views. The chart on page 50 illustrates how the
Board allocated its time during 2012.
Priorities for 2013
In 2013, the Board’s priority will be providing oversight of and
challenge to the progress of delivery of the actions and financial
and non-financial commitments Barclays has made as part of its
Strategic Review, which were announced in February 2013.
Board balance and diversity
Balance of non-executive and executive Directors
1 Chairman
2 Executive Directors
10 Independent non-executive Directors
Board gender balance
85% Male
15% Female
Length of tenure of non-executive Directors
0-3 years
3-6 years
6-9 years
1 Financial services 6
2 Accountancy/financial expert 2
3 Political/regulatory contacts 5
4 Current or recent Chairman/CEO 4
5 International (US) 2
6 International (Europe) 2
7 International (RoW) 1
8 Retail/marketing 1
Industry/background experiencea
1
2
3
5
6
78
4
Note
a Individual Directors may fall into one or more categories.
Geographical mix of non-executive Directors
6 from the
United Kingdom
2 from
Continental Europe
2 from the
United States
barclays.com/annualreport42 I Barclays PLC Annual Report 2012