How are my funds protected with Saxo Markets?

In accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Client Money rules, all retail client funds (including cash balances, any unrealised profits and funds used as margin collateral) received by Saxo Markets are held in trust in one or more segregated bank accounts with the retail clients as beneficiaries. Consequently client funds are held separately from Saxo Market's own money and cannot be used by Saxo Markets in the course of its day-to-day business operations.

In the unlikely event of a default by Saxo Markets, retail clients will have their funds returned to them from the client bank accounts rather than become unsecured creditors of the firm.

To ensure that the amount of money held in the client bank accounts accurately reflects the account value of our segregated clients, Saxo Markets performs a comprehensive daily reconciliation and on the basis of this reconciliation processes any and all necessary bank transfers. Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

The FSCS is the UK's statutory fund of last resort for customers of UK authorised financial services firms. This means that the FSCS can pay compensation if a member firm, such as Saxo Markets, is in liquidation and unable to pay client compensation claims against it, including where there is a client money shortfall. In the unlikely event there was a shortfall in the client money account, individual Saxo Markets clients would be able to claim up to a maximum of £85,000 per person from the FSCS.

If a bank holding client money goes into liquidation the losses would be shared by all clients in proportion to their share of Saxo Market's overall client money position. In respect of a UK authorised bank, these losses would be covered by the FSCS up to a limit of £85,000 per person, per banking group for each individual Saxo Markets client.

Please, read more about Client Money Protection on our web page.

How well capitalised is Saxo in case of market turmoil?

Saxo is well capitalised. We are licensed within an EU member state, meaning we are subject to capital requirements set forth by the EU. This includes Capital Requirement Regulation (CRR) as well as Capital Requirement Directive (CRD) - the latter being implemented as national regulation in Denmark.

Is Saxo liquid, i.e. is Saxo able to meet withdrawal requests in case of a bank run?

As we outlined in our recent annual report, Saxo Bank Group is highly liquid and able to meet withdrawal requests.

How are deposits with Saxo insured?

Saxo's deposit policy is to follow local law. This means that funds in the EU are ensured up to 100,000 Euros, whereas in other jurisdictions deposits regardless of size will be returned in the event of default. 

Please read more about the Protection of retail client funds on our web page.

How does Saxo hold client deposits and with whom? 

As of 31 December 2022, the Saxo Bank Group held client assets of DKK 584 billion, and about 1/6 of client assets are generally held as cash deposits. At the Saxo Group level, 18% of the cash deposits are held in segregated client trust accounts at major Tier 1 banks, 23% of the cash deposits are held with Central Banks, 50% in very short-term high-quality bonds, and the remaining 9% is used for other liquidity allocation such as funding of margin lending etc.

How exposed is Saxo to interest rate risk?

We hold some client deposits in a high-quality bond portfolio so we can mitigate counterpart credit risk instead of holding cash in different currencies in cases where Saxo does not have access to a central bank. Saxo Group's bond portfolio has an average duration of approximately one year and consists mainly of US and EU government bonds. All of the bonds in Saxo's portfolio are highly liquid and can be easily sold intraday.

Does Saxo provide any lending to start-ups or others?

Saxo does not provide lending services like traditional retail banks. Saxo only provides secured financing such as margin lending and securities lending.

What is Saxo's exposure to other banks, and how is it managed?

Saxo has a large and resilient market network. We always ensure capital buffers and that our relationships are governed by relevant agreements and authorities.

Does Saxo provide crypto products and/or services to clients?

Saxo offers exchange-traded cash products with exposure to crypto (ETFs, ETNs, etc.) as well as an FX crypto derivative product.

Does Saxo hold crypto itself, how much, and with whom?

Saxo has a stringent risk management setup related to its crypto offerings, and we have a very small exposure to crypto.