Saxo Bank (Saxo Markets): what the sources say

The questions, with sources

"Not verified" means we could not confirm it from a source we could read. Check the entity and rules for your own country. Education only, not investment advice.

How the points add up

• Regulation 20 of 20. Licensed by a major financial regulator (see the broker page for the register entry)
• Client protection 20 of 20. Investor compensation scheme applies: Garantiformuen (Danish Guarantee Fund) for Saxo Bank A/S and its branches (UAE, Czech Republic, France, Belgium, Netherlands); FSCS for Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd; Client assets held separately from the broker's own (stated in its documents)
• Transparency 10 of 10. Annual financial statements are public (listed parent or published report)
• Security record 10 of 15. Worst incident in the last five years scored: 10 of 15
• Compliance record 10 of 25. 4 regulator or court action(s) in the window; reports from press only are shown but not scored
• Costs 7 of 10. Buying 1,000 USD of a US stock or ETF: 0.1% commission at the published base tier (FX and spread not included)

Points earned of points available. A criterion we could not verify is left out and lowers the evidence share. See how we score.

Security incidents

• 2025-04-07 Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd trading platform impaired 14:30-16:50 BST during volatile US session; a client could not view/manage positions or load trade tickets (UK Financial Ombudsman case DRN-6262956). Saxo did not dispute the platform failure. Individual complaint, scale of affected clients not stated. Customer funds lost: yes. Outcome: Client claimed GBP 1,799.90 trading loss plus GBP 500; Ombudsman did not uphold (terms s.29.4 exclude liability for platform failure; trading desk reachable by phone); no redress. Saxo final response May 2025 rejected the complaint; no compensation. source
• 2020-11 Migration of ex-BinckBank French branch clients (55,548 clients per press) to Saxo platform over two weekends in Nov 2020; changed margin calculation and position-closing procedure; five clients suffered forced liquidations/financial losses (press); clients not informed in time. Out of window event (flagged); sanctioned by AMF in 2025 (see legal_actions). Customer funds lost: yes. Outcome: AMF Enforcement Committee decision 2025-07-16 (SAN-2025-07): breaches of information and professional conduct obligations; fine EUR 300,000 per AMF page. Press (Finance Magnates via TradingView) reports EUR 1 million and 55,548 clients: https://tr.tradingview.com/news/financemagnates:e2c3c9f36094b:0-over-55-000-clients-affected-in-it-transition-misstep-saxo-hit-with-1m-fine-by-french-regulator source older than 5 years
• 2020-07 Saxo Japan: unauthorised server access (2020-07-14) at an outside vendor's CRM; about 750 clients' personal data (names, contacts, DOB, bank info, ID documents) stolen. Out of window (flagged). Customer funds lost: no. Outcome: Press: trading systems and credentials not compromised; clients targeted by phishing afterward. source older than 5 years

Regulator and court actions

• 2026-01-23 Danish Financial Supervisory Authority: Alleged breaches of Money Laundering Act (customer purpose information, ongoing monitoring of white-label clients), Jan 2021-May 2023. Outcome: Fine DKK 313 million (~USD 50m) per press; Saxo stated inspection found no signs of money laundering. Official: administrative fine DKK 313,000,000 accepted by Saxo 22 Jan 2026 (Finanstilsynet page dated 23 Jan 2026); breaches of Money Laundering Act s.11(1) nos. 4-5; fine reduced partly for solvency. Earlier press source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/regulatory-actions/saxo-bank-fined-by-danish-fsa source
• 2025-10-29 Finanstilsynet (Danish FSA), fine imposed via Danish district court: Failure to report transactions correctly/completely/on time; over 80 million incomplete or inaccurate reports. Outcome: DKK 2 million fine (press). Official: Lyngby District Court ruling 29 Oct 2025, DKK 2,000,000 fine; court found at least 84 million incomplete/inaccurate reports (3 Jan 2018-30 Jun 2021) and 10 million unfiled reports. Earlier press source: https://www.grip.globalrelay.com/saxo-bank-fined-dkr-2m-for-inadequate-transaction-reports/ source
• 2025-07-16 AMF (France) Enforcement Committee: Saxo Bank A/S (as successor of BinckBank NV, French branch 'Saxo Banque'): clients not properly informed of changes to derivatives position-closing procedure and margin calculation after the Nov 2020 migration; incidents in three securities transactions not reported; shortcomings in PEA transfers; late information on Brexit PEA consequences. Outcome: Pecuniary sanction EUR 300,000 per AMF news release (22 Jul 2025) and decision page SAN-2025-07; appeal possible. Press reported EUR 1 million and publication order for five years at Saxo's expense (not confirmed on AMF pages read): https://tr.tradingview.com/news/financemagnates:e2c3c9f36094b:0-over-55-000-clients-affected-in-it-transition-misstep-saxo-hit-with-1m-fine-by-french-regulator source
• 2025 (month not stated) AFM (Netherlands): Fine of EUR 1.6 million on Saxo Bank for breaches committed by BinckBank before the merger (press only; AFM page not opened). Outcome: Press: Saxo did not appeal. Source is press (Finance Magnates via TradingView); authority page not found within search budget. source

Actions reported by press only are shown and not scored.

Key facts in five lines

• Saxo Bank A/S is a Danish licensed bank (licence 1149) supervised by Finanstilsynet. [source 1]
• Saxo accepted a DKK 313 million administrative fine from the Danish FSA (22-23 Jan 2026) for Money Laundering Act breaches; the FSA found no signs of money laundering. [source 15]
• Saxo's Danish page states Garantiformuen covers cash deposits up to EUR 100,000 and investor losses up to EUR 20,000 for Saxo Bank A/S clients. [source 9]
• The AMF Enforcement Committee fined Saxo Bank A/S EUR 300,000 on 2025-07-16 for client-information failures at its French branch after the 2020 BinckBank migration. [source 10]
• Saxo states it charges no inactivity fee, a custody fee of 0.09-0.15% p.a., and FX conversion up to 0.25%; the live US stock commission table was blank when read, so 0.08%/USD 1 min rests on Saxo's 2024 press release. [source 3]

Questions about Saxo Bank (Saxo Markets)

Is Saxo Bank (Saxo Markets) safe?

We do not give a yes or no. We record its regulation (Finanstilsynet (Danish FSA), FCA), whether an investor compensation scheme applies, and what we found about incidents and regulator actions. Read the sections above, and check which entity holds your account.

Does Saxo Bank (Saxo Markets) charge commission on US stocks?

From Saxo's 2024-01-15 press release for US and UK markets: Classic 0.08% with USD 1 minimum (previously USD 5), Platinum 0.05%, VIP 0.03%; rollout 'globally over coming months' so the current local schedule may differ. Official stock and ETF commission pages (home.saxo/en-gb/rates-and-conditions/stocks/commissions and /etf/commissions) opened 2026-10-11: the 'Exchange - America' tables render blank ('An error occurred'), page states prices 'are indicative and will vary according to the country of residency'; AU page redirects to a third-party domain.

Where this comes from

• [1] Saxo Bank licence details accessed 2026-10-11
• [2] Saxo Client Money Protection (UK) accessed 2026-10-11
• [3] Saxo General charges and fees accessed 2026-10-11
• [4] FinTech Futures DFSA fine accessed 2026-10-11
• [5] Saxo 2025 results press release accessed 2026-10-11
• [6] Saxo fee-cut press release 2024-01-15 accessed 2026-10-11
• [7] GRIP DKK 2m fine accessed 2026-10-11
• [8] Finance Magnates Saxo Japan leak accessed 2026-10-11
• [9] Saxo (DK) Beskyttelse af detailkunders midler (Garantiformuen) accessed 2026-10-11
• [10] AMF Enforcement Committee news release: Danish investment bank fined (22 Jul 2025) accessed 2026-10-11
• [11] AMF decision SAN-2025-07 (16 Jul 2025) accessed 2026-10-11
• [12] Finance Magnates via TradingView: 55,000 clients affected, AMF fine (press) accessed 2026-10-11
• [13] UK Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6262956 (Saxo UK platform outage 7 Apr 2025) accessed 2026-10-11
• [14] Saxo UK stocks commissions page (tables blank when read) accessed 2026-10-11
• [15] Finanstilsynet: administrativt boedeforelaeg Saxo Bank A/S (Jan 2026) accessed 2026-10-11

Not verified: Live US stock/ETF commission tables on Saxo's official fee pages rendered blank on 2026-10-11; cost_1000usd_pct 0.1 rests on Saxo's own 2024-01-15 press release and may differ by country of residence. Four incident searches (data breach, outage/compensation, account takeover/fraud, vendor breach) since 2021-10-11 found only one in-window item (Apr 2025 UK platform impairment, single Ombudsman case) and the Nov 2020 French migration sanctioned in 2025; no platform-wide breach found. AMF fine amount: AMF pages state EUR 300,000 while press reported EUR 1 million; official figure used. AFM EUR 1.6m fine (2025) and ASIC 2023 interim stop order on Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) known only from press (WikiFX/Finance Magnates); authority pages not opened within search budget. FSCS limit inconsistent on Saxo UK page. Regulator registers (Finanstilsynet, FCA, MAS) not opened; licences rest on Saxo pages. Countries/markets list not read.

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