Margin Rates and Conditions
1. Target Bid/Ask spreads
Our target bid / ask spreads listed are our best possible target spreads used in
normal market conditions. In quiet market conditions, the spread may be even narrower
but in periods of volatile markets, the spread may be increased and autoexecution
disabled. For certain categories of clients, the spreads may in general be wider
by up to 2 pips. The spreads applicable to your account will be displayed in your
SaxoTrader. Please consult your Introducing Broker or Saxo Bank to obtain further
information about our spread range and its implications to your account.
2. Margin requirements
Forex is traded on margin enabling you to leverage a small margin deposit for a much greater market effect where:
- First USD 25K margin rates apply to the first USD 25,000 (or equivalent) of your investment collateral
- Normal margin rates apply to all investment collateral over USD 25,000 (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:
| Cross |
Min Distance
and Max Gap (pips) |
| AUDUSD |
15 |
| EURJPY |
20 |
| EURUSD |
20 |
| EURCHF |
20 |
| EURGBP |
15 |
| GBPCHF |
25 |
| GBPJPY |
50 |
| GBPUSD |
25 |
| NZDUSD |
20 |
| USDCAD |
20 |
| USDCHF |
20 |
| USDJPY |
20 |
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.
Margin calls
You must maintain the margins listed in your account at all times. If the funds in your account fall below this margin, you will be subject to a margin call to either deposit more funds to cover your positions or close positions — normally you will be notified through our trading platform and via email. If your margin situation is not remedied, we may close positions on your behalf.
Forex Trading Hours
See opening hours here
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 added a mark up corresponding to +/- 0.25% on 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.
Click here for a more detailed explanation about Tom/Next rollover.