Barclays plc is a major global financial services firm operating in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It is a holding company that is listed on the London, New York stock exchanges, and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange until 2008. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank plc.

Barclays PLC is ranked as the 25th largest company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 (2008 list) and the fourth largest financial services provider in the world according to Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion).[citation needed] It is the second largest bank in the United Kingdom based on asset size, although its share price, having fallen by 40% in the past year as of 10 May 2009 (2009 -05-10)[update],[1] is considerably lower as a result of a fall in investor confidence.