Margin information

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

For professional margin rates, please see margin information for professional clients.

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.

Read more about Initial and Maintenance margin here.

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. 

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.

An Index CFD with an initial margin of 5% can be traded at 20:1 leverage.


Index CFDs margins (normal market conditions)

 Index TrackerInitial MarginMaintenance Margin
US 30 Wall Street5%2.5%
US 5005%2.5%
US Tech 100 NAS5%2.5%
Denmark 2510%5%
EU Stocks 505%2.5%
France 405%2.5%
Germany 405%2.5%
Germany Mid-Cap 5010%5%
Germany Tech 3010%5%
Netherlands 2510%5%
Norway 2510%5%
Spain 3510%5%
Sweden 3010%5%
Switzerland 2010%5%
Australia 2005%2.5%
Hong Kong10%5%

Index CFDs contract details (expiring)

Index TrackerInitial MarginMaintenance Margin
China 5010%5%
UK 1005%2.5%
UK Mid 25010%5%
Singapore10%5%
Taiwan10%5%
US200010%5%
Japan 2255%4.5%

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.

A Forex CFD with an initial margin of 3.33% can be traded at 30:1 leverage.

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 DollarAUDUSDAD3.33%1.66%
USD IndexUSDINDEX20%10%

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.

A Commodity CFD with an initial margin of 10% can be traded at 10:1 leverage.

Instrument NameSymbolInitial MarginMaintenance Margin

METALS
GoldGOLD5%2.5%
SilverSILVER10%5%
PlatinumPLATINUM10%5%
PalladiumPALLADIUM10%5%
US CopperCOPPERUS10%5%


ENERGY
US CrudeOILUS10%5%
UK CrudeOILUK10%5%
Heating OilHEATINGOIL10%5%
Gasoline USGASOLINEUS10%5%
Gas OilGASOILUK10%5%
US Natural GasNATGAS10%5%
CO2 EmissionsEMISSIONS10%5%


AGRICULTURE
CornCORN10%5%
WheatWHEAT10%5%
SoybeansSOYBEANS10%5%


SOFTS
NY Sugar No. 11SUGARNY10%5%
NY CoffeeCOFFEE10%5%
NY CocoaCOCOA10%5%


MEATS
Live CattleLIVECATTLE10%5%

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.

A Bond CFD with an initial margin of 10% can be traded at 10:1 leverage.

Initial MarginMaintenance MarginProduct/Instrument
20%10%German Government 5 year Bobl
German Government 2 year Schatz
20%10%German Government 10 year Bund
20%10%French Government 10 year OAT
20%10%Italian Government 10 year BTP

By default retail margins will apply. As a client regulated under ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) and based on a specific set of eligibility criteria you can apply to reclassify as an elective professional. Margin rates for elective professional clients differ from retail clients. You can find more information about margin rates and eligibility criteria here.

To get an overview of the margin information for elective professionals please click here.

Collateral rates for margin trading
(Professional clients only)

Saxo 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 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 allows Professional clients to use a percentage of certain bond investments 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 Group

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 Group 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 with the market value of the instrument. 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.

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