Interest on your main account is calculated on the Net Free Equity. Interest on sub-accounts is calculated on the Account Value.

Net Free Equity definition

Your Net Free Equity is:

• The value dated cash balance of your main trading account, plus or minus cash balances on your sub-accounts in the same currency
• Plus or minus any unrealised profits or losses from open CFDs, FX Forwards and Futures on your main trading account and sub-accounts in the same currency
• Plus the market value of any FX Options on your main trading account and sub-accounts in the same currency
• Minus any margin required for financing open positions on your main trading account and sub-accounts regardless of sub-account currency

Net Free Equity margin financing

The margin financing requirement may differ from the trading margin requirement. See the full list of cash collateral rates for margin financing used for the Net Free Equity calculation here.

As the Net Free Equity is calculated based on open trade positions across all your accounts, please ensure you have sufficient cash available on your main account currency. If you do not, you risk being subject to a debit interest in your main account currency.

Account Value definition

Account Value of your sub-account is:

• The value dated cash balance of accounts in the same currency
• Plus or minus the value of any unrealised profits or losses from open CFDs, FX Forwards and Futures on accounts in the same currency
• Plus the market value of any FX Options on accounts in the same currency

Account Interest

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.

Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. does not currently charge negative interest for account currencies subject to negative reference interest rates from central banks.

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 Calculation and Settlement

Interest will be calculated daily and settled monthly – within seven business days of the end of each calendar month. Interest is calculated according to the day count conventions and market standard set out in the table under Benchmarks Rates.

In supporting your financial aspirations and trading objectives, we provide both funding and liquidity for your trading activities in margin products. Our financing rates apply when you hold an open position in a margin product overnight e.g., a Contract for Difference (CFD) on a single stock.

Your financing rates consist of two components: 1) Saxo Bid/Offer financing rates and 2) commercial product markup/down.

The financing rates are set as:

• Bid = Saxo Bid financing rate - commercial product markdown
• Offer = Saxo Offer financing rate + commercial product markup

Saxo Bid/Offer financing rates

Saxo Bid/Offer financing rates refers to our pricing on financing i.e., we are charging floating interest rates. We use Alternative Reference Rates (ARRs) as an input when setting Saxo Bid/Offer financing rates. For currencies without a designated ARR, a money market rate, monetary policy rate or other relevant financial benchmark will apply as an input. 
Saxo Bid/Offer Financing Rates have a floor of zero percent, i.e. the interest rates can not be negative rates.

When you buy CFDs on single stocks e.g., in Hong Kong Dollars, we will convert our funding base into Hong Kong Dollars to finance the underlying purchase of the stocks. Conversely, if you are selling CFDs on a single stock e.g., in South African Rand, we will convert the proceeds from sale of the underlying stocks into our funding base currencies. These operations require active trading in various financial products in the interbank market to manage the liquidity cash flows generated by your trading activities.

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 are recognised by National Competent Authorities (NCAs), market participants, and national and international financial industry associations. For more information on the relevant financial benchmarks listed below, please consult the financial benchmark administrator, central or reserve bank.

The Saxo Bid/Offer financing rates are proprietary to Saxo Bank Switzerland and subject to the provisions in our General Terms & Conditions. One provision could be pass-through of cost related to external factors, such as changes in domestic and/or foreign monetary or credit policies that affect the general interest level or changes in cost structures with liquidity providers and brokers.

As a reference, see applicable Benchmark Rates in the section below.

Commercial product markups/downs

For more information on our general pricing, please consult the page Pricing Overview 

Interest calculation and settlement

Interest will be calculated daily and settled monthly – within seven business days of the end of each calendar month.

The benchmarks used when setting interest rates on deposits and financing rates on margin products are listed in the table below. Saxo Bank Switzerland reserves the right to apply a business lag to the publication of financial benchmarks when calculating and booking unrealised and realised interest.

Custody fees for stocks, ETPs and bonds

For accounts with stock, ETP or bond positions, an annualised custody fee with a monthly minimum is charged depending on your account tier. The custody fee is calculated daily using end of day position values and billed every month subject to 7.7% VAT. There is no minimum monthly custody fee.

Example: if you held 100,000 CHF in stocks, ETPs or bonds as a Platinum client, your monthly custody charge would be 12.33 CHF + VAT for a typical month (equivalent to 100,000 CHF x 0.15% p.a. x 30/365).

No custody fees are charged for mutual fund investments.

Security transfer out incurs a fee of CHF 50 – or the equivalent amount in the account currency – each security position.

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.