Barclays Chief Executive meets UAE Central Bank Governor

Dubai, May 24^th, 2006

The UAE Governor of the Central Bank, HE Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, was recently hosted in London by Barclays Group Chief Executive, Mr John Varley. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss matters of mutual interests including the growth in the GCC economies and Barclays Banks growth plans in the region. Also present at the meeting was David Roberts, Barclays CEO of International Retail & Commercial Banking and a Director of the Barclays Group. The group spent almost two hours exchanging views about the region and the future of the banking industry. Mr. Varley briefed the Governor about the growth and strategy of Barclays Group both in the international markets as well the domestic UK market.  

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Notes to the Editor
Company Background
Barclays Bank PLC. is a UK-based financial services group, with a large international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa, Middle East and Asia. It is engaged primarily in banking, investment banking and investment management. In terms of market capitalisation, Barclays is one of the largest financial services companies in the world.

Barclays has been involved in banking for over 300 years and operates in over 60 countries with more than 111,300 permanent employees (including 32,500 at Absa). 2005 recorded profit before tax of 5.3 billion, up fifteen percent from 2004.

About Barclays in the UAE
Barclays has been present in the United Arab Emirates for 30 years where it operates three distinct strategic business units covering the Middle East and North Africa region:

1. Barclays Wealth Management comprising Private and Premier Banking

Barclays Private Bank
Barclays Private Bank offers an integrated, independent global wealth management service for high net worth private clients and their families.  The service offers banking including credit, wealth structuring, discretionary and advisory services, delivered through skilled relationship managers and professional specialists.  Barclays Private Bank operates in 11 locations, the ability to operate in numerous centres allows its clients the flexibility of having their assets managed and held in whichever legal and fiscal jurisdiction suits them best.  A comprehensive range of banking services, products and expertise covers all areas of investment strategy, money management, and wealth planning. Barclays Private Bank is therefore ideally placed to successfully manage and protect its clients' wealth. It recently expanded its Middle East team with presence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, providing outstanding personal service and world class expertise to help its clients manage, protect and grow their assets. William Oullin, is the Chairman of Barclays International Private Banking. 

Barclays International Premier
Barclays International Premier team in the UAE provides a comprehensive and personal banking service to its clients with assets in the range of $200,000 to $2 million.  A team of highly trained Relationship Managers are there to help clients get the most from Barclays products and services, including -

• Banking services that give access to their money at a time and place that suits them. Barclays also offers both telephone and internet banking services for the client's convenience
• A wide range of savings and investments- with a team of experts to advice clients the most suitable product depending on the length of time available to invest, investment objectives and how actively they would like to be involved in making investment decisions. Products range from simple savings accounts to more complex, specialist investments.

The team is headed by David Inglesfield. 

2. Barclays Commercial and Retail Banking
Barclays Commercial Banking offers a wide spectrum of customised solutions to meet the needs of its customers. This ranges from vanilla trade finance requirements such as letters of credit and guarantees to more complex products such as commodity financing, acquisition financing and structured financing packages for specific sectors such as property. The solutions provided by Barclays Commercial Banking are tailored, and can be rapidly customised to meet the evolving needs of its growing customer base. In cognisance of the strong trade and investment linkages within the Gulf and North African region, the Barclays Commercial banking team has developed its regional hub in the UAE and as a result is able to offer a seamless and integrated offering across the Middle East and North Africa. The operation also includes Retail.  The team is headed by Saleem Sheikh for the Middle East and North Africa region. 

3. Barclays Capital
Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, which has an AA rating and a balance sheet of over 924 billion. With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporates, government and institutional clients with solutions to their financing and risk management needs. Barclays Capital has offices in 26 countries, employs over 9,000 people and has the global reach and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide. In January 2005, Barclays Capital received recognition from two of the finance industry's most prestigious publications by being named IFR magazine's 'Bank of the Year' and Risk magazine's 'Derivatives House of the Year'; and in November 2005, Financial News magazine awarded Barclays Capital 'European Investment Bank of the Year' in their annual Awards for Excellence. In the Middle East, Barclays Capital is licensed to operate from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), having opened its office in the landmark Gate Building on 3 July 2005. Since spring 2004, Barclays Capital has significantly expanded the resources devoted to the Middle East, bringing the firm's expertise in debt financing and risk management to the region. The Barclays Capital team in the Middle East & North Africa region is headed by Nicholas Hegarty.   

For more information please contact:
Florence Goodman
Head of Public Relations and Corporate Affairs
UAE
Barclays Bank PLC
Tel: +9714 3626785
GSM: +97150 651 0871
Email: florence.goodman@barclays.com
 
Tim Harrison/Lavina Chatterjee
Asda'a Financial Practice
Tel: + 9714 3355969 
Mob: 050-5097631; 050-4506911 
Email: tim.harrison@asdaa.com
l.chatterjee@asdaa.com                       

For more information about Barclays PLC., please visit www.barclays.com.

For further information about Barclays Capital, please visit www.barclayscapital.com

© Press Release 2006