1690, John Frame and Thomas Gould opened the Goldsmith Bank in Lombard Street, London. 1736, James Buckley married the daughter of John Frame and became a partner of the company. Since then, "Barclays" has appeared in the company name. 1896, 20 private banks formed a new joint-stock bank named Barclays Limited, with 182 branches and a deposit of 26 million pounds. 19 18 company became one of the top five banks in Britain through acquisition activities. From 65438 to 0925, it merged with Colonial Bank, Anglo-Egyptian Bank and National Bank of South Africa to form the international business of Barclays. 198 1 year, Barclays became the first foreign bank to submit an application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise long-term funds in the new york market. From 65438 to 0986, Barclays became the first British bank to be listed on the Tokyo and new york stock exchanges. In the same year, Barclays began to invest in banking and developed into Barclays Capital. From 65438 to 0995, Barclays acquired Nikko Investment Consulting Company of Wells Fargo, a rich country engaged in fund management, and merged its business with BZW Investment Management Company to establish Barclays Global Investors. In July 2005, Barclays bought more than half of the shares of Absa Group Limited. Absa is the largest retail bank in South Africa with more than 7 million customers. At present, Barclays has developed from a British partnership group to a global bank.