Barclays 2012 Annual Report Download - page 65

Political donations
The Group did not give any money for political purposes in the UK or
the rest of the EU nor did it make any political donations to political
parties or other political organisations, or to any independent election
candidates, or incur any political expenditure during the year. Absa
Group Limited, in which the Group has a majority stake, made
donations totalling £185,666 in 2012 (2011: £224,158) in accordance
with its policy of making political donations to the major South African
political parties as part of their Democracy Support Programme. The
Group made no other political donations in 2012.
In accordance with the US Federal Election Campaign Act, Barclays
provides administrative support to a federal Political Action Committee
(PAC) in the USA funded by the voluntary political contributions of
eligible Barclays employees. The PAC is not controlled by Barclays and
all decisions regarding the amounts and recipients of contributions are
guided by a steering committee comprised of eligible contributors.
Contributions to political organisations reported by the PAC during the
calendar year 2012 election cycle totalled $63,564 (2011 $43,436).
Charitable donations
Barclays provides funding and support to over 8,500 charities,
voluntary organisations and social enterprises ranging from small local
organisations, such as Bikeworks, which provides disadvantaged young
people in London with training to help them develop key skills to find
employment in the cycling industry, to international organisations such
as CARE International. The Group committed £32.1m in support of the
community in the UK (2011: £30.3m), including charitable donations of
£22.5m (2011: £22.6m). Further information on our community
involvement can be found on pages 30-31.
Environment
In 2011 we launched the Barclays Climate Action Programme – a
four-year plan which focuses on addressing environmental issues
where we believe we have the greatest potential to make a difference.
The Programme focuses on managing our own carbon footprint and
reducing our absolute carbon emissions, developing products and
services to help enable the transition to a low-carbon economy, and
managing the risks of climate change to our operations, clients,
customers and society at large. We invest in improving the energy
efficiency of our operations and offset the emissions remaining through
the purchase of carbon credits. We also have a long standing
commitment to managing the environmental and social risks
associated with our lending practices, which is embedded into our
Credit Risk processes. A governance structure is in place to facilitate
clear dialogue across the business and with suppliers around issues of
potential environmental and social risk. More details may be found on
our website at www.barclays.com/citizenship.
We are currently preparing for the forthcoming mandatory carbon
reporting regulations coming into force in April 2013, requiring all UK
companies listed on the London Stock Exchange to disclose their global
emissions in the Director’s Report. We are awaiting the publication of the
finalised requirements of the legislation by the UK Government but do
not foresee any significant challenges in adhering to the new regulation.
Essential contracts or arrangements
There are no persons with whom the Group has contractual or other
arrangements that are considered essential to the business of the Group.
Contracts of significance
Barclays provided BlackRock, Inc. with customary warranties and
indemnities in connection with the sale of Barclays Global Investors (BGI)
to BlackRock, Inc. in 2009. Barclays continued to provide indemnities in
respect of certain of BGI’s fully collateralised securities lending activities
until 30 November 2012 and will continue to provide support in respect of
certain BGI cash funds until December 2013.
Research and development
In the ordinary course of business the Group develops new products
and services in each of its business divisions.
Share capital
Share capital structure
The Company has Ordinary Shares in issue. The Company’s Articles also
allow for the issuance of Sterling, US Dollar, Euro and Yen preference
shares (preference shares). No preference shares have been issued as at
28 February 2013 (the latest practicable date for inclusion in this report).
Ordinary shares therefore represent 100% of the total issued share capital
as at 31 December 2012 and at 28 February 2013. Details of the movement
in Ordinary Share capital during the year can be found in Note 32 on
page 289.
On 31 October 2008, Barclays PLC issued, in conjunction with a
simultaneous issue of Reserve Capital Instruments issued by Barclays
Bank PLC, warrants (the Warrants) to subscribe for up to 1,516.9
million new Ordinary Shares at a price of £1.97775. As at 31 December
2012 there were unexercised Warrants to subscribe for 379.2 million
Ordinary Shares. On 13 February 2013 Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank
PLC announced that they had entered into an agreement with
Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs International (the
Warrantholders) pursuant to which the Warrantholders had agreed to
exercise in aggregate 379.2m outstanding Warrants. As a consequence
of this agreement no other Warrants remain outstanding. Details of
changes to the share capital structure which have taken place since the
year end are detailed in Note 46 Events After the Balance Sheet Date.
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