Barclays (/ˈbɑːrkliz, –leɪz/) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services.^[3]Barclays traces its origins to the goldsmith banking business established in the City of London in 1690.^[4] James Barclay became a partner in the business in 1736. In 1896, several banks in London and the English provinces, including Goslings Bank, Backhouse’s Bank and Gurney’s Bank, united as a joint-stock bank under the name Barclays and Co. Over the following decades, Barclays expanded to become a nationwide bank. In 1967, Barclays deployed the world’s first cash dispenser. Barclays has made numerous corporate acquisitions, including of London, Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918, British Linen Bank in 1919, Mercantile Credit in 1975, the Woolwich in 2000 and the North American operations of Lehman Brothers in 2008.^[5]Barclays has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange. It is considered a systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board.^[6] According to a 2011 paper, Barclays was the most powerful transnational corporation in terms of ownership and thus corporate control over global financial stability and market competition, with Axa and State Street Corporation taking the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively.^[7][8] Barclays operates in over 40 countries, employs over 80,000 people and is the fifth largest bank in Europe by total assets.^[9]

Barclays UK comprises the British retail banking operations, consumer credit card business, wealth management business, and corporate banking for small and medium-sized businesses in the UK.^[10] Barclays International consists of Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly known as Barclays Capital) and the Consumer, Cards & Payments business. The investment banking business provides advisory, financing and risk management services to large companies, institutions and government clients. It is a primary dealer in Gilts, U.S. Treasury securities and various European Government bonds.

1690 to 1900[edit]

Barclays traces its origins back to 17 November 1690, when John Freame, a Quaker, and Thomas Gould, started trading as goldsmith bankers in Lombard Street, London. The name “Barclays” became associated with the business in 1736, when Freame’s son-in-law James Barclay became a partner.^[11] In 1728, the bank moved to 54 Lombard Street, identified by the ‘Sign of the Black Spread Eagle’, which in subsequent years would become a core part of the bank’s visual identity.^[12]

The Barclay family were connected with slavery, both as proponents and opponents. David and Alexander Barclay were engaged in the slave trade in 1756.^[13] David Barclay of Youngsbury (1729–1809), on the other hand, was a noted abolitionist, and Verene Shepherd, the Jamaican historian of diaspora studies, singles out the case of how he chose to free his slaves in that colony.^[14]

In 1776, the firm was styled “Barclay, Bevan and Bening” and remained so until 1785, when another partner, John Tritton, who had married a Barclay, was admitted, and the business then became “Barclay, Bevan, Bening and Tritton”.^[15] In 1896, several banks in London and the English provinces, notably Backhouse’s Bank of Darlington^[16] and Gurney’s Bank of Norwich (both of which also had their roots in Quaker families), united under the banner of Barclays and Co., a joint-stock bank.^[17]

1900 to 1945[edit]

Between 1905 and 1916, Barclays extended its branch network by making acquisitions of small English banks. Further expansion followed in 1918 when Barclays amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank, and in 1919, when the British Linen Bank was acquired by Barclays, although the British Linen Bank retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own banknotes (see Banknotes of the pound sterling).^[18]

In 1925, the Colonial Bank, National Bank of South Africa and the Anglo-Egyptian Bank were amalgamated and Barclays operated its overseas operations under the name Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas)—Barclays DCO.^[19] In 1938, Barclays acquired the first Indian exchange bank, the Central Exchange Bank of India, which had opened in London in 1936 with the sponsorship of Central Bank of India.^[20]

In 1941, during the German occupation of France, a branch of Barclays in Paris, headed by Marcel Cheradame, worked directly with the invading force.^[21] Senior officials at the bank volunteered the names of Jewish employees, as well as ceding an estimated one hundred Jewish bank accounts to the German occupiers.^[22] The Paris branch used its funds to increase the operational power of a large quarry that helped produce steel for the Germans. There was no evidence of contact between the head office in London and the branch in Paris during the occupation. Marcel Cheradame was kept as the branch manager until he retired in the sixties.^[21]

1946 to 1980[edit]

In May 1958, Barclays was the first UK bank to appoint a female bank manager. Hilda Harding managed Barclays’ Hanover Square branch in London until her retirement in 1970.^[23]

In 1965, Barclays established a US affiliate, Barclays Bank of California, in San Francisco.^[24][25]

Barclays launched the first credit card in the UK, Barclaycard, in 1966. On 27 June 1967, Barclays deployed the world’s first cash machine, in Enfield.^[26][27] The British actor Reg Varney was the first person to use the machine.^[27]

In 1969, a planned merger with Martins Bank and Lloyds Bank was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, but the acquisition of Martins Bank on its own was later permitted. Also that year, the British Linen Bank subsidiary was sold to the Bank of Scotland in exchange for a 25% stake, a transaction that became effective from 1971. Barclays DCO changed its name to Barclays Bank International in 1971.^[19]

From 1972 until 1980, a minority stake in Banca Barclays Castellini SpA, Milan was owned by the Castellini family. In 1980, Barclays Bank International acquired the remaining stake in Barclays Castellini from the Castellini family.^[28]

In August 1975, following the secondary banking crash, Barclays acquired Mercantile Credit Company.^[29]