Saxo Bank Review 2023
Saxo Bank is a prestigious multi-asset broker headquartered in Denmark. The broker has been operational for almost three decades. Well known for its outstanding research, a first-rate trading platform and rich product portfolio, the company stands among the top brokerage firms in the industry. Although the broker offers a comprehensive trading experience with a dizzying array of tools, the minimum deposit requirements seem too high. This piece reviews the broker’s regulation status, trading platforms, fees, account types, leverage and customer support.
Regulation and Security
Saxo Bank holds multiple regulations worldwide. Almost 14+ regulators oversee the company including;
Denmark:
Saxo Bank A/S | Company Reg # 15731249 | License no. 1149
Regulations: Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA)
U.A.E.
Saxo Bank – Representative Office | Company Reg # 13/248/2019
Regulations: Central Bank of the UAE
Brazil
Saxo Bank do Brasil Escritório de Rep. Ltda | Company Reg # 09.462.544/0001- 40
Czech
Saxo Bank A/S Czech Republic | Company Reg # 28949587
United Kingdom
Saxo Capital Markets U.K. Limited | Company Reg # 551422
Regulation: Financial Conduct Authority
Singapore
Saxo Capital Markets Pte. Ltd. | Company Reg # 200601141M
Regulations: Monetary Authority of Singapore
Switzerland
Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd | Company Reg # CHE-106.787.764
Regulations: Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)
Italy
BG SAXO Società di Intermediazione Mobiliare S.p.A | Company Reg # 296
Regulations: Italian Market Authority – Consob
Japan
Saxo Bank Securities Ltd. | Company Reg # 0104 – 01 – 082810
Regulations: Japanese Financial Services Agency
Hong Kong
Saxo Capital Markets HK Limited | Company Reg # 1395901
Regulations: Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong
Australia
Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Limited | Company Reg # 32 110 128 286
Regulations: Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Netherlands
BinckBank N.V. | Company Reg # 33162223
Regulations: Dutch Central Bank and Authority for the Financial Markets
Belgium
BinckBank N.V. Belgium Branch | Company Reg # 0842.123.910
Regulations: National Bank of Belgium and Financial Services and Markets Authority
France
BinckBank N.V. French Branch (Saxo Banque) | Company Reg # 495 193 849 R.C.S
Regulations: Banque de France and Autorite Marche Financial
Italy
BinckBank N.V. Italy Branch | Company Reg # 3423
Regulations: Bank of Italy and the Italian Companies and Exchange Commission
Deposits with Danish banks (including Saxo Bank) are protected up to EUR 100,000 by the Danish Deposit Guarantee Fund in the case of payment suspension or insolvency. The company determines free deposit balances by subtracting any outstanding bank debt from the total amount deposited.
Moreover, the company hosts modern security measures, such as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocols and two-factor authentication, to prevent unauthorized access to customers’ financial information.
Negative Balance Protection
Saxo Bank provides its customers with negative balance protection, guaranteeing that they won’t lose more money than their investment with the company.
Funds Segregation
Saxo Capital Markets invests a portion of client funds in term deposit segregated accounts while the remainder is held in a “pooled” client segregated trust account. Keeping client funds separate from company funds is required by law in Australia. Hence Saxo Capital Markets uses only Australian ADIs (Authorized Deposit-taking Institutions) as the custodians of its segregated trust accounts.
Is Saxo Bank available worldwide?
Yes! Saxo Bank operates through its subsidiaries all around the world. The company has 15 regional offices in different jurisdictions across the globe. Clients from almost all parts of the world can sign-up with the broker except for a few jurisdictions, including but not limited to Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, Libya, Iran, Afghanistan, Japan, and the United States.
Supported Platforms
Unlike other brokerage firms, Saxo Bank does not offer third-party trading platforms like MT4, MT5, and cTrader. Instead, it facilitates online trading via custom-built trading platforms SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTraderPRO. On-the-go clients can also access a mobile trading app to trade the markets round the clock anywhere. Let’s quickly look at some features offered through each trading terminal.
Online Trading: The broker’s web trading platform comes with robust features, multiple trading tools, and an innovative layout. The watch list, screener, and price alert notifications ensure a streamlined and straightforward trading experience. In addition to being advanced, the syncing between multiple devices make charting an invaluable part of the platform. Switching between instruments is simple, and the product summary that displays Autochartist-related news and trading alerts is commendable.
Desktop Trading: Should you prefer exploring tradable opportunities from the comfort of your desktop, SaxoTraderPRO is available to be downloaded on your PC. The desktop trading interface looks similar to SaxoTraderGO. Functionality is comparable, but the PRO platform has a broader range of tools for professional traders. The SaxoTraderPRO charting functionality is just as robust as the web-based platform. The countdown timer showing the remaining time of each candle is also a nice addition.
When comparing the PRO with the GO platform, the “add module” option in GO requires the addition of numerous research elements that load automatically in PRO. Overall, Saxo Bank’s meticulousness reflects in all of its unique trading terminals. For instance, SaxoTraderGO’s trade ticket has sophisticated features, including the ability to toggle between various forex products like CFDs, futures, forwards, and options.
Saxo Bank trading platforms are also compatible with third-party resources, such as TradingView, Dynamic Trend, MultiCharts, and the OpenAPI for Excel.
Mobile Trading: The SaxoTraderGO mobile trading app has a sleek, intuitive interface. The app provides a similar trading experience to Saxo Bank’s web-based trading terminal. The SaxoTraderGO app simplifies trading by allowing investors to evaluate markets and manage trading positions. With 20+ drawing tools and 62+ indicators, SaxoTraderGO’s charting capabilities are robust and, to return to a recurring theme, closely mirror the experience of the web-based version of the platform.
However, the SaxoGo app has less features than their primary trading platforms; hence, if you’re going to rely on it solely, you must check the available features before signing up.
Account Types
Saxo Bank offers tier-based account types, including Classic, Platinum, and VIP.
Classic: Startup individuals looking for a basic level of trading may open a classic account with the company.
Platinum: Experienced traders might prefer to sign-up for the Platinum account. Besides 30% lower pricing, the account holders receive customer support in their local language.
VIP: The company offers premium services in the VIP account. While all other services and features look identical as offered in the Platinum account, VIP traders have access to 1:1 SaxoStrats, and expert opinion five days a week.
Professional Account: Clients meeting the eligibility criteria as per new ESMA rules can also signup for a professional account. To enroll as an elective professional, you must satisfy any two conditions below.
1. Own an investment portfolio equal to or greater than €500,000.
2. Have executed a minimum of ten trades during the past four quarters.
3. Hold one year of work experience in a financial role.
Demo account: Clients can also try out virtually funded demo accounts for 20 days. Demo accounts are best to test your trading plans and get acquainted with the available options without risking your real funds.
Signing Up
Saxo Bank’s signup process is simple but time-consuming. Clients need to follow multiple steps to open an account with the broker. The company doesn’t allow you to access its dashboard unless you fulfil the KYC requirements.
Below are the steps you may follow to become an account holder at Saxo Bank.
1. Visit the broker’s official website, and click on the signup button.
2. Enter your details on the registration page and confirm your country of residence.
3. Provide your mobile phone number and address details.
4. Confirm your employment history, previous trading exposure, and preferred account types.
5. Complete the KYC process and submit supporting documents to get your account activated.
Trading Dashboard
You may access your real and practice accounts in a snap on Saxo Bank’s user-friendly dashboard. From the user interface, traders can deposit funds, launch the web trading platform, and access the trade analytics features. Moreover, customers can access the Web API keys needed to create their trading apps and expert advisors. You can also connect the algorithms to your investment portfolio using the API keys. Traders can sign up for email and phone alerts about price changes using the alerts area of their dashboard. Remember, clients can access the dashboard only after completing the KYC process.
Deposit and Withdrawals
Saxo Bank supports limited payment methods for deposits and withdrawals, such as Debit Cards, Credit Cards, and Bank transfers. The minimum deposit to sign-up with the broker is EUR 2,000. Clients funding their accounts for the first time must use bank transfers for deposits. Once the transaction is completed successfully, the card functionality becomes activated.
The broker accepts payments in 12+ currencies, including AUD, CHF, NOK, EUR, JPY, NZD, SEK, SGD, USD, CAD, GBP, DKK, and HKD.
Concerning withdrawals, the bank releases funds via bank transfers. The company hasn’t stipulated any minimum threshold for withdrawals. Notably, the bank doesn’t accept third-party payments. Therefore, your source of funds should only be in your name. All transactions are processed within 2-5 working days. If you’ve any specific problems, you should connect with customer care for resolution.
Instruments
Being a multi-asset brokerage firm, the company provides access to over 40,000 symbols for trading and investing. Clients can access 22000+ stocks, 4500+ bonds, 6900+ ETFs, 190+ forex pairs, 300+ futures, 8+ commodities, 3000+ listed options and 14+ cryptocurrencies. However, available financial instruments may vary depending upon the selected entity and account type. For example, clients can’t trade crypto CFDs due to FCA restrictions in the U.K.
Commissions and Fees
Saxo Bank claims to provide competitive rates for trading forex and CFDs. The bank takes pride in offering the best pricing model available for high-frequency traders who keep substantial sums in their accounts. However, clients with limited capital might find the broker too expensive.
Saxo Bank does not charge its customers a commission in most cases. Instead, it generates revenue through variable spreads. However, traders transacting less than half a standard lot (50,000 units) per month pay a commission up to $3 per side ($6 per round trip).
While the broker applies a $100 penalty on accounts dormant for over six consecutive months, clients are also charged a monthly custodial fee of EUR 5. Besides swap charges for holding positions overnight, a currency conversion fee also applies for transferring funds in currencies other than your account base currency. Although deposits are free of cost, withdrawals might carry a charge of up to 2.88% of the transaction amount depending upon your selected payment method.
Spreads
Saxo Bank claims to offer competitive spreads across all its markets. The minimum spread for trading currencies starts at 0.4 pips, while clients can trade share CFDs like UK100 for a minimum of 0.85 pips. The average spread for trading major currency pairs like EUR/USD is 0.7 pips.
Available Leverage
The term leverage refers to readily available forms of borrowed currency for boosting general purchasing power. Even though using a margin might increase your profit-making potential, it may also increase the risk of loss. Saxo Bank offers a leverage of up to 1:200 for retail clients. Professional clients can unlock even a higher leverage level. However, countries with robust regulatory regimes might restrict clients to using a maximum leverage of up to 1:30.
Analysis and Education
The broker has done a fantastic job consolidating its research tools and educational resources under one tab, ‘Inspiration’. Saxo Bank offers a wide variety of high-quality written and video tutorials. Although the broker’s educational library provides rich educational resources compared to conventional banks, its offerings still lag behind market leaders.
The company-generated written articles can be found under the insights tab and narrowed down by analyst or asset type. While the pieces feature customer sentiment data and market movers, the broker keeps them updated all the time. The autochartist is an excellent add-on that provides trading alerts and analysis from an external source. Twenty video tutorials are available for newcomers in the insights area. The Thought Starters series, featuring shorter essays on technical analysis, indicators and risk management techniques, also make part of the educational offering at Saxo Bank.
Customer Service
Saxo Bank provides average-level customer support to its clients. While clients can access multilingual customer support five days a week, connecting with a customer service representative might drive you nuts. Although the broker claims to offer live chat services, we could not find one. Those who are patient enough to raise their concerns with the company can talk to the broker over the phone or communicate with it via email. A FAQs section is also available to find a quick resolution to your queries on a self-serve basis.
Reputation amongst Traders
Unfortunately, Saxo Bank is one of the under-rated companies we’ve reviewed so far. The broker seems to struggle to make its clients happy. For example, out of more than 3,000 ratings on Trustpilot, 57% of customers seem not to be recommending the broker. While most clients have criticized the company for its poor customer support, some complained about its delayed trade executions, slow withdrawal process, and higher deposit requirements.
Awards
Saxo Bank has won several awards for its services in the industry;
- Best Retail FX Platform Awards 2021 by FX Markets
- Best Prime of Prime Broker Awards 2021 by FX Markets
- Best e-FX Awards 2013-2021 by FX Markets
Can beginners trade with Saxo Bank?
Honestly, Saxo Bank might be too complicated for newbies to get started. While the minimum deposit requirement is relatively high, the broker pricing structure isn’t competitive either. Further, the broker offers limited research and educational resources to help beginners learn and grow.
Summing Up
This article intends to describe Saxo Bank in great depth so that readers can make an informed decision about whether or not to use their services. The trading platform provided by the bank is both sophisticated and accommodating. In addition, its wide variety of products entices retail and professional clients to explore countless trading opportunities. However, the broker’s high minimum deposit requirement, limited educational resources, and unavailability of industry-standard platforms like MT4/MT5 might deter some clients from signing up.
