General charges and fees
See all our prices
From 1 December 2021, Saxo Bank Group is changing the inputs used to set the interest rates that apply to deposited funds (account interest) and margin financing rates.
How does this affect you?
Whether you trade stocks, exchange traded funds (ETFs), bonds or margin trading products, we don’t expect these changes to cause any significant impact to your overall costs.
The current conditions that apply to positive cash balances and negative interest rates for the Danish kroner, Euro and Swiss franc will remain unchanged.
You can find the full terms and conditions for account interest in the account interest section below. Margin financing rates apply to carrying cost, CFD financing and margin lending.
Why are we changing our interest rates?
Financial benchmark administrators are subject to increasing regulatory requirements. This impacts the Saxo Bank Group because we use financial benchmarks as a reference when setting interest rates.
Our changes follow the market’s general adoption of Alternative Reference Rates (ARRs) as a fallback rate and replacement for Interbank Offered Rates (IBORs). ICE Benchmark Administration will stop publishing most London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) settings from 31 December 2021.
ARRs have been developed by working groups consisting of national and international industry associations, market participants, as well as central and reserve banks.
They are publicly available and have been recognised by National Competent Authorities (NCAs), market participants, and national and international financial industry associations.
What are the changes?
Alternative Reference Rates (ARRs) will be used as an input in setting Saxo Bid/Offer interest rates. Saxo Bid/Offer interest rates are used, in conjunction with commercial product markups and markdowns, to generate account interest or margin financing rates. For currencies without a designated ARR, money market rates, monetary policy rates or other relevant financial benchmarks will apply as an input.
The Saxo Bid/Offer interest rates are proprietary to the Saxo Bank Group and subject to the provisions in the General Business Terms.
For Offshore Chinese Yuan (CNH), the Saxo Bid/Offer interest rates applied for account interest will be floating going forward.
Financial benchmarks from 1 December 2021
The financial benchmarks used to set Saxo Bid/Offer interest rates for account interest and margin financing rates from 1 December 2021 are listed in the below table.
Account interest rates are subject to a zero floor whenever the rate is negative, with the exception of positive cash balances in Swiss franc, Danish kroner and Euros, which are subject to the conditions explained in the account interest section. All margin financing rates are subject to a zero floor whenever the rate is negative.
Saxo Bank Group reserves the right to apply a business lag to the publication of financial benchmarks when calculating and booking unrealised and realised interest.
| Currency | Day count convention | Account interest rates *) | Margin financing rates *) | ||
| AED | ACT/360 | Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) repo rate | |||
| AUD | ACT/365 | Australian Overnight Index Average (AONIA) | |||
| CAD | ACT/365 | Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (CORRA) | |||
| CHF | ACT/360 | Swiss National Bank (SNB) policy rate | Swiss Average Rate Overnight (SARON) | ||
| CNH | ACT/360 | Chinese Offshore Yuan Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (CNH HIBOR) | |||
| CZK | ACT/360 | Czech Overnight Index Average (CZEONIA) | |||
| DKK | ACT/360 | Denmark’s National Bank current-account rate | |||
| EUR | ACT/360 | European Central Bank (ECB) deposit facility rate | Euro Short-Term Rate (ESTR) | ||
| GBP | ACT/365 | Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) | |||
| HKD | ACT/365 | Hong Kong Overnight Index Average (HONIA) | |||
| HUF | ACT/360 | Hungarian Overnight Index Average (HUFONIA) | |||
| ILS | ACT/360 | Bank of Israel (BoI) rate | |||
| JPY | ACT/360 | Tokyo Overnight Average Rate (TONAR) | |||
| MXN | ACT/360 | The Equilibrium Interest Rate (TIIE) Overnight | |||
| NOK | ACT/360 | Norwegian Overnight Weighted Average (NOWA) | |||
| NZD | ACT/365 | Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Official Cash Rate (OCR) | |||
| PLN | ACT/360 | Poland Overnight Index Average (POLONIA) | |||
| RON | ACT/360 | National Bank of Romania deposit rate | |||
| RUB | ACT/360 | Ruble Overnight Index Average (RUONIA) | |||
| SAR | ACT/360 | Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA) reverse repo rate | |||
| SEK | ACT/360 | Swedish Short-Term Rate (SWESTR) **) | |||
| SGD | ACT/365 | Singapore Overnight Rate Average (SORA) | |||
| THB | ACT/365 | Thai Overnight Rate (THOR) | |||
| TRY | ACT/360 | Turkish Lira Reference Rate (TLREF) | |||
| USD | ACT/360 | Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) | |||
| ZAR | ACT/365 | South Africa Benchmark Overnight Rate (SABOR) | |||
* Applicable financial benchmarks as an input in setting Saxo Bid/Offer interest rates for account interest and margin financing rates respectively.
** Subject to final release by Sveriges Riksbank by 2 September 2021. In the case that the testing period for the financial benchmark Swedish Short-Term Rate (SWESTR) is not completed by 1 December 2021, the Sveriges Riksbank repo rate will apply as an input instead.
Interest on your main account is calculated based on the Net Free Equity.
Interest on sub-accounts is calculated on the Account Value.
Since the Net Free Equity is calculated based on open trade positions on all your accounts, it is important to make sure that sufficient cash is available on your main account. Otherwise, you risk being subject to a debit interest on your main account exceeding the credit interest payable on your sub-account(s).
Your Net Free Equity is:
- The cash balance of your main account
- Plus or minus any unrealised profits or losses from open CFDs, FX Forwards and Futures on your main account
- Plus the market value of any FX Options on your main account
- Minus any margin required for financing open positions on your main account and sub-account(s)
Net Free Equity margin financing
The margin financing requirement may differ from the trading margin requirement.
To avoid paying interest on your main account you are required to hold sufficient cash collateral ensuring a positive Net Free Equity balance.
Further information can be found here.
The Account Value of your sub-account is:
- The cash balance of the sub-account
- Plus or minus the value of any unrealised profits or losses from open CFDs, FX Forwards and Futures on the account
- Plus the market value of any FX Options on the account
The following interest rates apply to funds deposited with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.:
For positive Net Free Equity on the main account or any positive Account Values on sub-accounts, no interest is paid.
If the Net Free Equity has a negative value, interest is due at the overnight market rate plus 8% p.a. (minimum 8% p.a.). The same interest is also due on negative Account Values of sub-accounts.
From 31 August 2018 on, the following shall apply with regard to the charging of negative interest:
For currencies that are subject to negative reference interest rates from central banks Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. reserves the right to charge negative interest on accounts of private clients on an individual basis and subject to a previous notice. In such case, the following negative interest rates apply, which are applied on the main account on the available Net Free Equity and, for each sub-account, on the Account Value(s):
| Negative interest rate (p.a.) | |
| EUR | –0.50% |
| CHF | –0.75% |
| DKK | –0.60% |
The following interest rates apply to funds deposited with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.:
- For positive Net Free Equity on the main account or any positive Account Values on sub-accounts, no interest is paid.
For currencies which are subject to negative interest reference rates by central banks, Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. charges institutional clients on all accounts above a certain threshold negative interest.
The thresholds and negative interest rates are currently as per below table and are applied on the main account on the available Net Free Equity and, for each sub-account, on the Account Value:
| Threshold | Negative interest rate (p.a.) | |
| EUR | 250,000 | –0.50% |
| CHF | 250,000 | –0.75% |
| DKK | 2,000,000 | –0.60% |
The negative reference interest rates applied by the central banks are continuously monitored by Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. If the negative interest rate environment were to change, Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. will endeavour to make adjustments to its negative interest rates.
If the Net Free Equity has a negative value, interest is due at the overnight market rate plus 8% p.a. (minimum 8% p.a.). The same interest is also due on negative Account Values of sub-accounts.
Interest will be calculated daily and settled monthly - within seven business days after the end of each calendar month.
Currency conversions of trading costs as well as profits and losses from trading activities are executed at the mid FX Spot rate plus/minus 1.00% for classic clients, 0.75% for platinum clients and 0.50% for VIP clients.
For FX Options premiums the FX spot rate plus/minus 1.0% will be used.
The Currency Conversion fee does not apply to margin collateral. Only settlement of actual payments to or from the account are included, for example, buying/selling cash Stocks/Bonds, paying/receiving options premium etc. or profit/loss on other margin products.
The rate used for currency conversion of amounts booked to your account is shown in the trading platforms under the “Trades Executed” report.
Custody fees for stocks, ETFs/ETCs and bonds
For accounts with stock, ETFs/ETCs or bond positions a custody fee with a monthly minimum fee of CHF 5.00 will apply depending on your account tier. The custody fee will be calculated daily using the end of day values and charged on a monthly basis and subject to 7.7% Swiss VAT (if applicable). Regional differences may apply.
| Classic | Platinum | VIP | Monthly minimum fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks and ETFs/ETCs | 0.18 % | 0.15 % | 0.12 % | CHF 5.00 |
| Bonds | 0.18 % | 0.15 % | 0.12 % | CHF 5.00 |
An inactivity fee on the amount of CHF 89 – or the equivalent amount in the account currency- will be charged where the client does not execute any trades on his/her account for a period of 3 month (90 days). Inactivity fee will not be charged to VIP clients.
Security transfer out incurs a fee of CHF 50 – or the equivalent amount in the account currency – each security position.
For clients with a Classic account a fee of CHF 50 – or the equivalent amount in the account currency – will be charged when a client requests online reports to be delivered by email. This fee will also apply for third-party requests for reports from, for example, auditors.
Clients with a Classic Account placing orders over the phone, chat or email will be subject to a manual order fee of CHF 50 per order. Certain products that cannot be traded on the platform may be exempt.
A proxy voting service fee will be charged to clients who subscribe to Saxo Bank’s meeting services. In addition, a per vote fee will be levied for every vote or change to a vote.
| Description | Cost |
|---|---|
| Service subscription | EUR 30 p.a. excl. VAT |
| Vote/Changing a vote | EUR 5 per vote excl. VAT |
The Service subscription fee will be charged on a quarterly basis at the end of the quarter and is non-refundable. Clients opting in and out within the same quarter will be charged the full amount. When relevant, the service subscription fee will be converted to the applicable local currency and subject to a currency conversion charge. Note that the service subscription fee will first be charged at the end of Q4 2020, no service subscription fee will be charged for Q3 2020.
The per vote fee will be charged at the time of voting. When relevant, the per vote fee will be converted to the applicable local currency and subject to a currency conversion charge. The per vote fee will be incurred from 3 September 2020 and will first be charged at the end of Q4 2020.
Rates applicable to clients represented by an Introducing Broker (IB) or an External Asset Manager (EAM) may vary with regard to the here shown standard rates. Applicable rates are disclosed in the trading ticket or in the Trading Conditions window under the “Account” menu on the platform SaxoTrader GO & SaxoTrader PRO or in SaxoTraderGO (Monitor).
Please note that Classic and Platinum clients will be charged a fee of USD 200 for each new instrument added. VIP clients may request new instrument free of charge. The fee will be charged only when the requested instruments are successfully implemented. To check your current account tier, please go to the "Account" section of the platform and select the "Saxo Rewards" tab.
