Rates & conditions

1) Target Bid/Ask spreads

The target bid/ask spreads listed are our best possible spreads used in normal market conditions. Under certain market conditions - such as over the release of key economic figures, during periods of volatile market conditions, and during the sometime illiquid European night time spreads may be wider and auto execution limits may be lowered or disabled. For certain categories of clients, the spreads may in general be wider by up to 2 pips. The spreads applicable to a client’s account will be displayed in the SaxoTrader. Please consult an assigned Introducing Broker or Saxo Bank to obtain further information about the spread range and its account implications.

2) Margin requirements

Forex is traded on margin enabling clients to leverage a small margin deposit for a much greater market effect where:

• Reduced margin rates apply to the first EUR 50,000 (or equivalent) of investment collateral
• Normal margin rates apply to all investment collateral over EUR 50,000 (or equivalent).

3) Autoexecuted trades

Major currency trades can be autoexecuted for amounts below the autoexecution limit. Autoexecuted trades are automatically accepted without intervention from the bank. For trade sizes over the autoexecute limit and in volatile market conditions, the trade must first be approved by a dealer which normally takes just a few seconds.

* Note that these are typical autoexecute limits that can change over the day, depending on the market conditions and available liquidity.

4) Trading on bands

Your trades will be subject to price bands when trading below the auto-execution limit described above. This in effect matches the best possible target spread to the amount traded and removes unnecessary delays and manual intervention. The smaller the amount traded, the narrower the spread. Each time you trade, a reload period begins. If you continue to trade within the reload period, your cumulative volume can affect a band jump. A band jump will automatically quote a spread respective to the cumulative volume traded within the reload period. After the reload period elapses, the bands are reset. The target spreads and amounts for the bands applicable to your account will be displayed in your SaxoTrader.

5) Ticket fees for low-value trades

For Forex trades below the Ticket Fee Threshold listed, a small ticket fee of USD 10 is added to the trade to cover administration costs.

This Ticket Fee is not applicable to Saxo MiniTrader accounts.

6) Stop Orders

For all "no-slip" stop orders on Majors there is a minimum distance to current market. This means that stop and trailing stop orders for the below currency pairs must be placed with a minimum distance to market as indicated in the table below:

Orders will automatically be rejected if they are not placed at a greater distance from market prices than shown above. This applies to both “no-slip” stop orders and trailing stop orders.

What is a "no-slip" stop order?

For the Majors, Saxo Bank will attempt to fill stop orders at the price level set by the investor for amounts up to 3 million in the base currency, except if the pair gaps more than the max-gap value defined for the specific cross. The max-gap values for each cross are the same as the minimum distance values defined in the table above.

Minimum Trade Sizes

Trades cannot be executed below set Minimum Trade Sizes.  The minimum trade size for each currency pair is listed in the trading conditions page.

Forex options spreads and conditions

Margin calls

Clients must maintain the margins listed in an account at all times. If the funds in the client account fall below this margin, clients will be subject to a margin call to either deposit more funds to cover positions or close positions — normally clients will be notified through their trading platform and via email. If the margin situation is not remedied, the Bank may close positions on a client’s behalf.

Forex Trading Hours

Saxo Bank is open for Forex trading:

• from Monday 05:00 Sydney local time (currently Sunday 18:00 GMT) 
• to Friday 17:00 New York local time (currently Friday 21:00 GMT).

Forex positions held until their Value Date, and Interest on Unrealised Profit/Loss

Open Spot Forex positions held at the end of a Trading Day will be rolled over to a new Value Date on a Tom/Next basis. As part of the tom next roll over operation, positions are subject to a swap charge or credit. The Swap Points used are based on a swap feed from a Tier 1 bank with a mark up corresponding to /- 0.25% of daily market overnight interest rates, plus an interest component of /- 0,75% for any unrealised P/L on the position based on the same interest rate feed.

View a more detailed explanation about Tom/Next rollover.