This document comprises the 1999 Annual report of Barclays PLC and the 1999 Annual report on Form 20-F to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC. It contains the Directors' report and accounts of Barclays PLC, together with the Auditors' report thereon, as required by the UK Companies Act 1985. The 1999 Annual review and summary financial statement of Barclays PLC is published as a separate document. The accounts of Barclays Bank PLC included in this document do not comprise statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The statutory accounts of Barclays Bank PLC, which contain an unqualified audit report and do not contain any statement under Section 237(2) or (3) of that Act, will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies in accordance with Section 242 of that Act and are published as a separate document. Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC are public limited companies, organised under the laws of England, and all of the issued ordinary share capital of Barclays Bank PLC is owned by Barclays PLC. This report has therefore been prepared as a joint annual report on Form 20-F for Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC and it also contains the consolidated accounts of and other information relating to Barclays Bank PLC. Except where otherwise indicated, the information given is identical with respect to both Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC. The consolidated accounts of Barclays PLC and its subsidiary undertakings are set out in the relevant section along with the accounts of Barclays PLC itself. The consolidated accounts of Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiary undertakings are set out in the relevant section. The accounting policies and the notes detailed in the relevant section apply equally to both sets of accounts unless otherwise stated. The financial data contained in this document reflects changes in the Group's management structure which took place in 1999 and are explained in Changes in reporting of Group structure in 1999. The relevant comparative data has been restated. The term 'Barclays PLC Group' means Barclays PLC together with its subsidiary undertakings and the term 'Barclays Bank PLC Group' refers to Barclays Bank PLC together with its subsidiary undertakings. 'Barclays' and 'Group' are terms which are used to refer to either of the preceding groups when the subject matter is identical. The term 'Company' refers to Barclays PLC and the term 'Bank' refers to Barclays Bank PLC. In this report, the abbreviations '£m' and '£bn' represent millions and thousands of millions of pounds sterling respectively and the abbreviations '$m' and '$bn' represent millions and thousands of millions of US dollars respectively. References to operating results 'before the impact of the Finance Act' exclude the impact of taxation changes arising from the Finance (No. 2) Act 1997 and the Finance Act 1998. Barclays complies with the Electronic Commerce Directive.