Global reach
Barclays Capital is the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank PLC, a parent company with more than GBP 1.2 trillion on its balance sheet as of the end of fiscal year 2007. (Other Barclays units include: Barclays Global Investors, the asset management division; and Barclays Wealth, the wealth management arm.) Globally, Barclays Capital has offices in 29 countries and over 16,200 employees; resources it devotes to debt capital market financing and risk management for sovereign, corporate and institutional clients. In Asia Pacific, Barclays Capital employs more than 3,500 -- a headcount that has grown over 50 percent in the last three years. Offering global corporations, government organizations and financial institutions advice in undertaking financing opportunities, Barclays Capital offers service to both issuer and investor clients, with a focus on the cash and derivatives markets.
While Barclays Bank PLC traces its roots to 17th-century London, Barclays Capital grew out of its parent company's continuing global expansion in the 1980s, and the founding of an investment capital division in 1986 called BZW Investment Management. Today, Barclays Capital is one of the world's leading investment banks, and in recent years has increased the range of its investment banking activities to taking income from mortgage-backed securities, equity products, commodities and derivative products across all asset classes.
In Asia Pacific, Barclays Capital handles investment banking, financing and risk management. Its product suite includes equity, credit and fixed income derivatives, foreign exchange, commodities and liability management.
Growth spurt
Barclays Capital was created in 1997 to provide financing and risk management solutions to corporate, government and institutional clients around the world. Although it's younger than many of its peers, Barclays Capital's relationship with its parent allowed it to grow at an astonishing rate: today it has offices in 29 countries and over 16,200 employees.
Barclays Capital has received a number of awards in recent years in Asia Pacific as well. AsiaRisk named it Interest Rate Derivatives House of the Year for 2007, and in the same year, Structured Products magazine named the firm Structured Products House of the Year - Asia. The firm was also chosen as Best FX and Commodities House at FinanceAsia's Structured Products Awards. In January 2008, Barclays Capital won five Deal of the Year awards at the Islamic Finance News awards, recognizing its contribution to increasing accessibility in the Islamic market for global investors.
