Margin information

Review our margin requirements and other information related to margin trading with Saxo

 Swiss residents only. EU residents, click here.

The margin requirement applicable to opening and maintaining a margin position consists of two elements:

  1. Initial margin: the amount of margin required to open a new position.
  2. Maintenance margin: the amount of margin required to maintain an open position.

Read more about Initial and Maintenance margin here.

Margin requirements differ by instrument and depend on the exposure in the given instrument. Margin requirements may be subject to regulatory mandated minimums and may be subject to change according to the underlying liquidity and volatility of the instrument. For this reason, the most liquid instruments in most cases require a lower margin requirement.

Saxo offers tiered margin methodology as a mechanism to manage political and economic events that may lead to the market becoming volatile and changing rapidly. With tiered margin, the average margin requirement (‘Blended Margin Requirement’) increases with the level of exposure. The opposite is also true; as the level of exposure decreases the margin requirement also decreases. This concept is illustrated below:

The different levels of exposure (or tiers) are defined as an absolute number of U.S. Dollars (USD) across all instruments. Each instrument has a specific margin requirement in each tier.

Please note that margin requirements may be changed without prior notice. Saxo reserves the right to increase margin requirements for large position sizes, including client portfolios considered to be of high risk.

Initial margin and maintenance margin are designed to protect you against adverse market conditions, by creating a buffer between your trading capacity and margin close-out level.

  1. Initial margin: a pre-trade margin check on order placement, i.e. on opening a new position there must be sufficient margin collateral available on account to meet the initial margin requirement for the entire margin portfolio.
  2. Maintenance margin: a continuous margin check, i.e. the minimum amount of cash or approved margin collateral that must be maintained on account to hold an open position(s). Maintenance margin is used to calculate the margin utilisation, and a close-out will occur as soon as you do not meet the maintenance margin requirement.

The initial and maintenance margin of a single stock CFD is based on the stock rating. Saxo defines 6 different stock ratings. This rating is derived from the market capitalization, liquidity and volatility of the underlying asset.

Saxo RatingInitial MarginMaintenance Margin
120%10%
220%15%
325%20%
435%30%
555%50%
6110%100%

To find the rating and collateral value, search for a specific instrument in our platform preview and open its product overview. Select the info button (i) on the top right, then go to the Instrument tab. 

Index CFDs (normal market conditions)

 Index TrackerInitial MarginMaintenance Margin
US 30 Wall Street1.50%1.00%
US 5001.50%1.00%
US Tech 100 NAS1.50%1.00%
Denmark 254.00%3.50%
EU Stocks 501.50%1.00%
France 404.00%3.50%
Germany 401.50%1.00%
Germany Mid-Cap 504.00%3.50%
Germany Tech 304.00%3.50%
Netherlands 254.00%3.50%
Norway 255.00%4.50%
Spain 354.00%3.50%
Sweden 304.00%3.50%
Switzerland 204.00%3.50%
Australia 2001.50%1.00%
Hong Kong5.00%4.50%

Index CFDs contract details (expiring)

Index TrackerInitial MarginMaintenance Margin
China 5010.00%9.00%
UK 1001.50%1.00%
UK Mid 2504.00%3.50%
Singapore10.00%9.00%
Taiwan10.00%9.00%
US20005.00%4.50%
Japan 2255.00%4.50%

Read more about Initial and Maintenance margin here.

Instrument NameSymbolInitial MarginMaintenance Margin
CURRENCIES
Euro / US DollarEURUSDEC3.33%1.66%
Euro / Japanese YenEURJPYRY3.33%1.66%
Euro / Swiss FrancEURCHFRF3.33%1.66%
Euro / British PoundEURGBPRP3.33%1.66%
British Pound / US DollarGBPUSDBP3.33%1.66%
Australian Dollar / US DollarAUDUSDAD5,00%2,50%
USD IndexUSDINDEX20%10%

Read more about Initial and Maintenance margin here.

Instrument NameSymbolInitial MarginMaintenance Margin

METALS
GoldGOLD4.00%3.50%
SilverSILVER5.00%4.50%
PlatinumPLATINUM8.00%7.50%
PalladiumPALLADIUM8.00%7.50%
US CopperCOPPERUS4.00%3.50%


ENERGY
US CrudeOILUS5.00%4.50%
UK CrudeOILUK5.00%4.50%
Heating OilHEATINGOIL5.00%4.50%
Gasoline USGASOLINEUS5.00%4.50%
Gas OilGASOILUK5.00%4.50%
US Natural GasNATGAS10.00%9.00%
CO2 EmissionsEMISSIONS10.00%9.00%


AGRICULTURE
CornCORN5.00%4.50%
WheatWHEAT5.00%4.50%
SoybeansSOYBEANS5.00%4.50%


SOFTS
NY Sugar No. 11SUGARNY8.00%7.50%
NY CoffeeCOFFEE8.00%7.50%
NY CocoaCOCOA8.00%7.50%


MEATS
Live CattleLIVECATTLE5.00%4.50%

Read more about Initial and Maintenance margin here.

Instrument NameInitial MarginMaintenance Margin
German Government 5 year Bobl1.50%1.00%
German Government 5 year Schatz1.50%1.00%
German Government 10 year Bund1.50%1.00%
French Government 10 year OAT1.50%1.00%
Italian Government 10 year BTP2.00%1.50%

Read more about Initial and Maintenance margin here.

Collateral rates for margin trading

(EU residents: professional clients only. Outside EU: available for all clients including CH residents).

Saxo Bank Switzerland allows a percentage of the investment in certain Stocks and ETFs to be used as collateral for margin trading activities. The collateral value of a stock or ETF position depends on the rating of the individual stocks or ETFs – please see conversion table below.

Rating
1
2
3
4
5
6
Collateral value of position
75%
50%
50%
25%
0%
0%

Example: 75% of the value of a position in a Stock or ETF with Rating 1 can be used as collateral (instead of cash) to trade margin products such as Forex, CFDs, Futures and Options. Please note that Saxo Bank Switzerland reserves the right to decrease or remove the use of Stock or ETF investment as collateral for large position sizes, or stock portfolios considered to be of very high risk.

To find the rating and collateral value, search for a specific instrument in our platform preview and open its product overview. Select the info button (i) on the top right, then go to the Instrument tab. 

Saxo Bank Switzerland allows a percentage of the investment in certain bonds to be used as collateral for margin trading activities.

The collateral value of a bond position depends on the rating of the individual bond, as outlined below:

Rating definition*Collateral percentage
Highest Rating (AAA)95%
Very High Quality (AA)90%
High Quality (A)80%

 

* as rated internally by Saxo Bank

Example: 80% of the market value of a bond position with an A rating can be used as collateral (instead of cash) to trade margin products such as Forex, CFDs or Futures and Options.

Please note that Saxo Bank reserves the right to decrease or remove the use of bond positions as collateral.

For further guidance or to request the rating and collateral treatment of a specific or potential bond position, please send an email to fixedincome@saxobank.com or contact your account executive.

Collateral rates differ by instrument and depend on the market value of the given instruments. Collateral tiers may be subject to regulatory mandated maximums and may be subject to change according to the underlying liquidity and volatility of the instrument. For this reason, the most liquid instruments in most cases provide higher collateral rates.

Saxo offers the tiered collateral methodology as a mechanism to manage gap and liquidity risk. With tiered collateral, the average collateral rate (‘Blended collateral rate’) decreases as the market value of the instrument increases. The opposite is also true; as the market value of the instrument decreases the average collateral rate increases. This concept is illustrated below:

Picture1

The different market values (or tiers) are defined as an absolute number of U.S. Dollars. (USD) across all instruments. Each instrument has a specific collateral rate in each tier.

Please note that the collateral rate may be changed without prior notice.

Saxo reserves the right to reduce the collateral rate for large positions sizes, including client portfolios considered to be of high risk.

This is built upon the collateral rates, where all equities are assigned both a margin requirement (for CFDs and options) and a value as collateral.

If the equity used as collateral is the same as the underlying for the leveraged position, an additional haircut will be deducted. The additional “concentration haircut” will be equal to the margin requirement of the leveraged position.

The collateral value of the underlying equity will be equal to the collateral value of the equity minus the margin requirement of the leveraged position.

This will make the margin utilization more sensitive to price movements in the underlying equity. The concentration haircut is introduced to account for the inherently riskier position when the exposure is concentrated around one underlying and is not diversified.

Example

A client on flat margin rates wants to buy 25,000 USD of CFDs in a company, and already has 10,000 USD stock in the same company. Since the underlying of the CFD position is the same as the stock, a concentration haircut will be deducted. If the company stock is rating 1, the calculation for the margin utilization will be:

Portfolio, CFDs and Shares in same underlyingValue (USD)
CFDs25,000
Shares10,000
Margin Requirement, 10%2,500
Collateral haircut, 25% of shares in Company2,500
Concentration haircut = Margin requirement for CFDs2,500
Collateral value of shares after concentration haircut5,000
Margin Utilization = Margin Requirement/Collateral value of stock50%

If the underlying stock of the CFD position had been different from the stock of the client, then a margin utilization of 33% would apply.

API Ready BG

Ready to get started?

Saxo Bank (Schweiz) AG
The Circle 38
CH-8058
Zürich-Flughafen
Switzerland

Contact Saxo

Select region

Switzerland
Switzerland

All trading carries risk. Losses can exceed deposits on margin products. You should consider whether you understand how our products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. To help you understand the risks involved we have put together a general Risk Warning series of Key Information Documents (KIDs) highlighting the risks and rewards related to each product. The KIDs can be accessed within the trading platform. Please note that the full prospectus can be obtained free of charge from Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. or the issuer.

This website can be accessed worldwide however the information on the website is related to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. All clients will directly engage with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and all client agreements will be entered into with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and thus governed by Swiss Law. 

The content of this website represents marketing material and has not been notified or submitted to any supervisory authority.

If you contact Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. or visit this website, you acknowledge and agree that any data that you transmit to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., either through this website, by telephone or by any other means of communication (e.g. e-mail), may be collected or recorded and transferred to other Saxo Bank Group companies or third parties in Switzerland or abroad and may be stored or otherwise processed by them or Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. You release Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. from its obligations under Swiss banking and securities dealer secrecies and, to the extent permitted by law, data protection laws as well as other laws and obligations to protect privacy. Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. has implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect data from unauthorized processing and disclosure and applies appropriate safeguards to guarantee adequate protection of such data.

Apple, iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.