Saxo is a Danish online investment and trading bank. Its parent, Saxo Bank A/S, holds a Danish banking licence and serves clients across Europe directly and through branches; subsidiaries serve clients in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy and Japan. Since March 2026 Saxo has been majority owned by the J. Safra Sarasin Group, with co-founder Kim Fournais holding about 28%.
Research-based assessment This profile has not completed TTI’s on-site verification and 30-day platform review. How TTI verification works
| Regulator | Licence | Legal entity | Register status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) | 551422 | Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd | Authorised Checked 4 Oct 2026 | Register entry for Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd (opens in a new tab) 2 |
| Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) | No reference | Saxo Bank (Schweiz) AG | Authorised Checked 4 Oct 2026 | Register entry for Saxo Bank (Schweiz) AG (opens in a new tab) 3 |
| Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) | No reference | Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd | Authorised Checked 4 Oct 2026 | Register entry for Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd (opens in a new tab) 4 |
Each licence was matched on the regulator’s own register on the date shown. Unverified claims are listed under Regulation and legal entities.
Saxo is a Danish bank, now majority owned by the J. Safra Sarasin Group, that publishes annual reports, detailed business terms and deposit and investor guarantee information. We matched its UK, Swiss and Singapore companies on their regulators’ registers but could not load the Danish FSA’s register for the parent bank. Saxo’s regulatory record is significant: in January 2026 it accepted a DKK 313 million fine for anti-money laundering failures between 2021 and 2023, after earlier orders from the Danish FSA; a Danish court fined it in 2025 for millions of faulty transaction reports; and France’s AMF fined it in 2025 for failing to inform clients during an IT migration. UK ombudsman decisions show few complaints upheld against Saxo’s UK company.
Saxo announced that the J. Safra Sarasin Group acquired about 71% in March 2026, with Kim Fournais holding about 28%.
The registers we checked show the companies as currently authorised. The Danish FSA’s 2026 fine was a penalty, not a licence restriction.
Clients of Saxo Bank A/S can take unresolved complaints to the Danish Financial Complaint Board, and UK clients can use the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Over three years the UK ombudsman published 20 decisions on Saxo’s UK company and upheld 1.
Saxo publishes how to complain, through the platform or an online form, overseen by a Global Complaints Officer.
Reduced the enforcement dimension by 25 points (high severity, 0.7 years before the review).
Reduced the enforcement dimension by 10 points (moderate severity, 0.9 years before the review).
Reduced the enforcement dimension by 10 points (moderate severity, 1.2 years before the review).
Reduced the enforcement dimension by 2.5 points (moderate severity, 9.8 years before the review, counted at a quarter of its weight).
Reduced the enforcement dimension by 2 points (low severity, 2.9 years before the review).
Each dimension is scored from its criteria, then weighted. Dimensions without enough evidence are left out and the remaining weights are rescaled. Open a dimension to see every criterion, our rationale and the sources.
Whether the firm’s licences exist, are current and cover what it offers.
Client-facing entities appear on the regulator’s register 1234
We matched Saxo Capital Markets UK on the FCA’s list, Saxo Bank (Schweiz) on FINMA’s list and Saxo Capital Markets Pte on MAS’s directory. We could not load the Danish FSA’s register for the parent bank, and did not check the Italian and Japanese companies.
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
Whether you can find out who owns and runs the firm.
Ultimate ownership can be identified 8
Saxo announced that the J. Safra Sarasin Group acquired about 71% in March 2026, with Kim Fournais holding about 28%.
Financial statements are available 9
Saxo Bank publishes annual reports, including for 2025, and a credit rating report.
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
What protects client money if something goes wrong.
Retail clients have negative balance protection
The general business terms do not state negative balance protection, and we did not review the UK terms on this point.
An investor compensation scheme applies 110
Saxo Bank A/S is a member of the Danish Depositor and Investor Guarantee Scheme, which covers cash deposits up to EUR 100,000 per depositor, including clients of its EU and UAE branches. Saxo directs clients of its subsidiaries to local websites for their cover, which we did not check.
Withdrawal terms are disclosed
We did not review Saxo’s funding and withdrawal pages for fees and processing times.
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
Regulator warnings, enforcement actions and final legal findings on record.
Starts at 100 and loses points for each substantiated adverse finding by severity and age. Allegations, complaints and clone warnings never count. Total deducted: 49.5 points.
AMF fines Saxo Bank EUR 300,000 over its French branch’s client information failures 12
16 Jul 2025. Reduced the enforcement dimension by 10 points (moderate severity, 1.2 years before the review).
ACPR reprimands and fines Saxo Banque France EUR 900,000 13
28 Dec 2016. Reduced the enforcement dimension by 2.5 points (moderate severity, 9.8 years before the review, counted at a quarter of its weight).
Saxo’s former Australian company compensated clients after self-reporting CFD leverage limit breaches 14
9 Nov 2023. Reduced the enforcement dimension by 2 points (low severity, 2.9 years before the review).
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
How the firm handles complaints, and what independent records show.
Independent complaint outcomes show no adverse pattern 17
Over three years the UK ombudsman published 20 decisions on Saxo’s UK company and upheld 1.
Complaint data is disclosed 18
We found no complaint statistics published by Saxo, and its UK company is below the thresholds for the FCA’s and ombudsman’s firm-level tables.
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
Whether costs, execution and risks are disclosed before you sign up.
Costs are disclosed before account opening 19
Saxo publishes commissions and spreads by asset class, but the pricing page we loaded did not show financing, currency conversion or inactivity charges.
An order execution policy is published 7
An order execution summary dated February 2026 is published.
The client agreement is available before sign-up 10
The general business terms can be downloaded without an account.
Leverage and margin terms are disclosed
We did not find maximum leverage, margin call or stop-out levels in the documents we reviewed.
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
Whether public claims hold up and the firm communicates openly.
Material changes are communicated 10
Changes to the terms that are not in the client’s favour require at least one month’s notice on a durable medium.
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
What our visit confirmed in person: a real, staffed office of the assessed entity, not a ghost address.
We have not checked this firm’s office in person, so this dimension scores zero. We check offices through our on-site verification programme.
Real office at the stated address, not a ghost address
Office of the assessed entity
Staffed and operating
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
What our on-site checks and 30-day platform testing found.
We have not completed an on-site assessment of this firm, so this dimension does not count and its weight is shared among the others.
Company identity
Regulatory claims
Office visit
Account opening
Platform usability
Costs and disclosures
Customer support
Deposits and withdrawals
Trading functions
Complaints process
Criteria and their weighting are explained in the methodology.
A brand can trade through several companies, each licensed in a different place with different protections. Check which entity your account would be with.
Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) (Danish FSA) · Reference 1149
Credit institution (bank)
Saxo gives licence number 1149. We could not load the Danish FSA’s company register; the Danish FSA’s published decisions of 2024 and 2026 address Saxo Bank A/S as a supervised bank, and it was classified as a systemically important institution in 2023.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) · Reference 551422 2
Listed as Authorised in the FCA's investment firms register, first authorised 5 October 2011.
Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) 3
Bank
Listed among authorised banks, marked as foreign controlled, and not marked as about to cease operations.
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) 4
Capital markets services licence: dealing in securities, collective investment schemes, exchange-traded and OTC derivatives and spot FX for leveraged trading; product financing; custodial services.
Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB)
Saxo states it holds financial licences in Italy. We did not check CONSOB’s register.
Financial Services Agency (JFSA)
Saxo states it holds financial licences in Japan. We did not check the JFSA’s register.
No licence recorded for this entity.
Warnings, enforcement actions, legal findings, allegations and complaint records are labelled separately. What each label means.
After an inspection in May 2023, the Danish FSA ordered Saxo Bank in February 2024 to fix a range of anti-money laundering deficiencies, including customer due diligence on white label and financial clients, monitoring of business relationships and prompt reporting of suspicious transactions, and expected it to raise its capital add-on for money laundering risk to at least DKK 150 million. On 22 January 2026 Saxo accepted an administrative fine of DKK 313 million for failing, between January 2021 and May 2023, to obtain information on the purpose of client relationships and to monitor white label clients on an ongoing basis. The FSA took account of Saxo’s cooperation and remedial steps.
Following a 2022 police report by the Danish FSA, the Lyngby court fined Saxo Bank A/S DKK 2 million for submitting incomplete or inaccurate transaction reports in at least 84 million cases, and no report in 10 million cases, between January 2018 and June 2021, and for failing to check its reports. Danish police announced the judgment on 29 October 2025.
On 16 July 2025 the AMF Enforcement Committee fined Saxo Bank A/S EUR 300,000, as successor to BinckBank NV, because its French branch had not properly informed clients of significant changes to how derivatives positions were closed and margins calculated after an IT migration in November 2020, had not informed clients of incidents on three securities transactions, and had shortcomings in handling PEA transfers.
On 9 November 2023 ASIC reported that Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Limited was one of seven CFD issuers that self-reported issuing CFDs to retail clients with leverage above the limits in ASIC’s CFD product intervention order, and that undertook remediation programs to compensate affected clients under ASIC’s review. ASIC did not impose a penalty.
On 28 December 2016 the ACPR’s Enforcement Committee imposed a reprimand and a EUR 900,000 fine on Saxo Banque France in disciplinary proceedings concerning its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing arrangements.
Firms can respond to their profile and to any finding. No response has been published for Saxo. How firms can respond.
| Review date | Result | Methodology | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Oct 2026 | Trust score 73 out of 100 Sound | 1.2 | Current |
No corrections have been made to this profile.
States that Saxo Bank A/S, company registration 15731249, holds Danish FSA licence 1149, received its banking licence in 2001 and was classified as a systemically important financial institution in June 2023. Says the group also holds a banking licence in Switzerland and financial licences in the UK, Singapore, Italy and Japan. Explains that Saxo is a member of the Danish Depositor and Investor Guarantee Scheme, covering cash deposits up to EUR 100,000 per depositor, including clients of its branches in the UAE, Czech Republic, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, while clients of its subsidiaries should check local cover.
Shows Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd (FRN 551422) with status Authorised, first authorised 5 October 2011.
Lists Saxo Bank (Schweiz) AG, Kloten, as an authorised bank under foreign control, not marked as about to cease operations.
Lists Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd as a capital markets services licensee for dealing in securities, collective investment schemes, exchange-traded and OTC derivatives and leveraged spot FX, product financing and custodial services. Names Mahesh Sethuraman as chief executive officer.
On 22 January 2026 Saxo Bank accepted an administrative fine of DKK 313,000,000 issued by the Danish FSA for breaching the Anti-Money Laundering Act’s requirements on information about the purpose and nature of client relationships and on ongoing monitoring of white label clients, from January 2021 to May 2023. The FSA took into account Saxo’s cooperation and remedial steps, and reduced the fine in view of the bank’s financial strength.
States that Saxo is a trading name of Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd, authorised by the FCA (FRN 551422), company number 7413871, registered at 26th Floor, 40 Bank Street, London. Shows the warning that 60% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider; the international site shows 64%.
Sets out how Saxo achieves best execution for client orders, dated February 2026.
Announces that J. Safra Sarasin Group acquired about 71% of Saxo Bank, previously held by Geely Financials Denmark, Mandatum and other minority shareholders, after approval by FINMA and the Danish FSA. Kim Fournais retains about 28% and becomes chairman; Daniel Belfer becomes chief executive.
Saxo Bank publishes annual reports on its investor relations page, including for 2025, together with a credit rating report from S&P.
Saxo’s client terms. Custody securities held with external custody providers are segregated and identified; Saxo is a member of the Danish Guarantee Scheme for Depositors and Investors. Changes not in the client’s favour require at least one month’s notice on a durable medium. Complaints go first to Saxo’s complaint department and can then be taken to the Danish Financial Complaint Board or the complaint board for investment companies. The terms do not state negative balance protection or leverage limits.
Reports that the Lyngby court fined Saxo Bank A/S DKK 2 million for submitting incomplete or inaccurate transaction reports to the Danish FSA in at least 84 million cases, and none at all in 10 million cases, between 3 January 2018 and 30 June 2021, and for failing to check its reports. The case followed a police report by the Danish FSA.
On 16 July 2025 the AMF Enforcement Committee fined Saxo Bank A/S EUR 300,000, as successor to BinckBank NV, for breaches by its French branch (trading as Saxo Banque): clients were not properly informed of significant changes to how open derivatives positions were closed and margins calculated after an IT migration in November 2020, nor of incidents on three securities transactions, and there were shortcomings in handling PEA transfers.
Decision of 28 December 2016 by the ACPR’s Enforcement Committee imposing a reprimand and a EUR 900,000 fine on Saxo Banque France in disciplinary proceedings concerning its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing arrangements.
ASIC reports that seven CFD issuers, including Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Limited, self-reported issuing CFDs to retail clients above the leverage limits in ASIC’s CFD product intervention order and paid or agreed to pay a combined AUD 4.3 million to affected clients. Saxo no longer lists an Australian business, and ASIC’s current licensee data shows its former licence number under another company name.
On 4 October 2026 we searched the Danish FSA’s published decisions, the FCA’s and ASIC’s websites, the AMF’s and ACPR’s enforcement decisions and Brazil’s CVM alerts, checked the Indian and Malaysian alert lists, and ran web searches for actions by FINMA, MAS, CONSOB and the JFSA. The findings on this profile are what we found; Saxo is not on the Indian or Malaysian lists.
Clients can complain through the platform or an online form; a Global Complaints Officer oversees complaints, and unresolved complaints can be filed with the Danish Financial Complaint Board.
The ombudsman lists the company under two business names. Between 4 October 2023 and 4 October 2026 it published 13 decisions under one (none upheld) and 7 under the other (1 upheld): 20 decisions, 1 upheld.
Neither dataset includes a Saxo company; both publish firm-level figures only above minimum complaint volumes.
Publishes commission and spread levels by asset class. The page we loaded did not show financing, currency conversion or inactivity charges.
Report of the May 2023 anti-money laundering inspection. The Danish FSA issued orders requiring Saxo to obtain information on the purpose of business relationships, keep customer due diligence up to date, apply enhanced due diligence to all white label clients and high-risk financial clients, verify correspondent relationships, monitor all relationships, investigate alerts and report suspicious transactions promptly. It expected Saxo to raise its Pillar II capital add-on for money laundering risk by at least DKK 125 million, to at least DKK 150 million.
The Danish FSA reported Saxo Bank to the police for failing to ensure complete and accurate MiFIR transaction reports from 3 January 2018 to 30 June 2021, which it described as serious and extensive breaches.
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