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Board Responsibilities

At Barclays we think of governance as how the Board makes decisions and provides oversight in order to promote Barclays’ success for the long-term benefit of our shareholders having regard to the interests of our other priority stakeholder groups – our clients, customers, colleagues and the society in which we operate.

The Board sets the purpose and strategic direction and risk appetite of the Group and is the ultimate decision-making body for matters of Group-wide strategic, financial, regulatory or reputational significance. A bespoke corporate governance framework sets out those matters reserved solely to the decision-making power of the Board. A summary of the matters reserved for the Board is found below. 

Board Responsibilities

Roles on the Board

Executive and Non-Executive Directors share the same duties. However, in line with the principles of the Code, a clear division of responsibilities has been established.

The Chair is responsible for:

  • leading the Board and its overall effectiveness
  • demonstrating objective judgement
  • promoting a culture of openness and constructive challenge and debate between all Directors
  • facilitating constructive board relations and the effective contribution of all Non-
  • Executive Directors ensuring Directors receive accurate, clear and timely information.

Responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Group is delegated to the Group Chief Executive, who is supported in this role by the Executive Committee. You can find further information on the membership of the ExCo on our leadership page

As a Board we have set out our expectations of each Director in Barclays’ Charter of Expectations. This includes role profiles and the behaviours and competencies required for each role on the Board, namely the Chair, Deputy Chair (to the extent one is required), the SID, Non-Executive Directors, Executive Directors and Committee Chairs.

Our Non-Executive Directors provide effective oversight and scrutiny, strategic guidance and constructive challenge, holding the Executive Directors to account against their agreed performance objectives. The Non-Executive Directors, led by the Nominations Committee, have primary responsibility for the appointment and removal of the Executive Directors.

The SID provides a sounding board for the Chair, acting as an intermediary for the other Directors when necessary. Our SID is available to shareholders should they have concerns that have not been addressed through the normal engagement channels.

The Charter of Expectations is reviewed annually to ensure it remains relevant and Accurately reflects the requirements of the Code, the Regulations and industry best practice.

Related documents

Charter of Expectations and Role Profiles (PDF - 264KB)
Board Diversity and Inclusion Policy (PDF 66KB)

Board Committees

The Board is supported in its work by its Committees, each of which has its own Committee terms of reference, which clearly set out its remit and decision-making powers. The principal Committees of the Board and their core responsibilities can be found on our Committee page. This structure enables the Board to spend a significant proportion of its time focusing on the strategic direction of the Group.

Board effectiveness

We believe that an effective Board is one which delivers value for our four priority stakeholder groups – our customers and clients, colleagues, society and investors. We assess the effectiveness of our Board, its Committees and Board members annually.

This year’s Board Effectiveness Review specifically reviewed the effectiveness of the Board and Board Committee structure during the year, and the results of the review confirmed that our Board governance structure continues to deliver its intended benefits whilst respecting the spirit of the ring-fencing legislation in relation to decision-making affecting BBUKPLC.  

You can read more about the 2021 process and our progress against the 2020 Board effectiveness review in the 2021 Annual Report.