Barclays plc

Barclays plc is a British multinational bank headquartered in London, tracing its origins to a London goldsmith banking business established in 1690 that later took the Barclays name after generations of the Barclay family served as partners. It grew through mergers with other British banks into one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom, operating both retail and investment banking, and expanded significantly into investment banking through its 2008 acquisition of the North American operations of the collapsed Lehman Brothers.