System and method for maintaining branch information

An instruction pipeline (900) in a microprocessor is provided. The instruction pipeline (900) includes a plurality of pipeline units (910, 920, 930 and 940), each of the pipeline units processing a plurality of instructions including branch instructions. The instruction pipeline further includes a plurality of storage devices (911, 921, 931 and 941) which store a respective branch information data. Each of the storage devices (911, 921, 931 or 941) are associated with at least one of the pipeline units (910, 920, 930 or 940). Each respective branch information data is determined as a function of at least one of the branch instructions processed. Two of the pipeline units include branch prediction circuitry for predicting branch direction as a function of the stored branch information data.