Aims and goals

The objectives of this Statement are to:

• Define the standards of conduct that form the foundation for compliance with Barclays policies and procedures

• Inform and inspire employees to work towards common goals

• Support Barclays objectives to be a leader in sustainability

• Contribute to the fulfilment of Barclays governance obligations.

Barclays commitments

Business integrity
Barclays is subject to a range of legislation, regulations and voluntary codes which apply to potential and existing business and personal customers including:

• Fair competition – Barclays upholds the principles of a free market, and avoids unfair or unethical competitive practices
• Bribery and corruption – Barclays recognises the potential adverse effects that endemic bribery and corruption on communities and national economies and seeks to eliminate bribery of any kind wherever it operates
• Conflicts of interest – Barclays takes appropriate measures to avoid potential conflicts of interest
• Data security – Information about Barclays customers, business contacts and employees is held in the strictest confidence, in compliance with UK legislation.

Relationships with customers
Barclays seeks to maintain long-term and mutually beneficial relationships with personal and business customers and clients, promoting trust, fairness, transparency, innovation and reliability.

• Treating customers fairly: Barclays has set out specific core principles which demonstrate its commitment to customers.
• Barclays co-operates with governments, regulators and other financial services providers to safeguard customers’ accounts from fraud and combat organised crime
• Barclays is a member of the Wolfsberg Group of 11 international banks which work together to develop global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards.

Relationships with employees
Barclays aims to provide a safe and healthy working environment in which employees are treated fairly and with respect.

• Barclays believes its workforce should reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and offers equal opportunities on the basis of merit
• Discrimination, bullying or harassment of any kind is not tolerated

Relationships with suppliers
Barclays promotes standards of integrity and business conduct throughout its supply chain, and good practice in identifying and managing environmental and ethical impacts.

• Barclays selects and re-appoints suppliers in accordance with a sourcing policy which includes ethical and environmental screening criteria
• Barclays seeks to engage suppliers, where appropriate, to promote improvement in their environmental performance.

Company assets and systems
Barclays employees are responsible for safeguarding any Barclays and/or customer assets under their control or accessed as part of their work.

• Such assets may include: funds, information, physical or intellectual property
• Employees are instructed not to use Barclays systems to access, store, copy or distribute messages or images of a derogatory, defamatory, illegal, pornographic, obscene or offensive nature.

Political affiliation and activity
Barclays is politically neutral and has a longstanding policy of not making contributions to political parties or campaigns. An exception to this is Absa Group (a South African-based financial services company in which Barclays has a majority share). Absa has a policy of making annual financial donations to the major South African parties in line with the commitment to strengthen democratic development in the country, including:

• Barclays lobbying activity is carried out only by authorised employees
• Colleagues participating as individuals in political activity or campaigning, do so in their personal capacity and not as representatives of Barclays.

Responsibilities to society
Barclays believes the biggest contribution we can make to society is through operating a commercially successful business in a responsible way. This includes:

• Delivering quality products and services to customers, and providing jobs, careers and a good working environment for employees
• Providing a good return for our shareholders (which benefits thousands of individuals whose pension funds are invested in Barclays)
• Managing our ethical and environmental impacts and respecting human rights
• Investing in the communities in which we operate.