Saxo

Is Saxo safe?

For holding shares and ETFs, yes, with one caveat about compliance. Saxo Bank A/S is a Danish bank that regulators class as systemically important, which means higher capital buffers and closer supervision than a typical online broker. At 30 June 2026 its total capital ratio was 26.5% and S&P rated it A- with a positive outlook. We score it 76/100.

The caveat is the conduct record. In January 2026 Saxo accepted a DKK 313 million (about €42 million) fine for anti-money-launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary failures, and the Danish FSA has issued orders on how Saxo classifies clients, sells complex products and changes its fees. None of this has cost clients their assets, but it puts Saxo below brokers with cleaner records, such as Trading 212.

Which Saxo company holds my account?

Saxo serves clients through a parent bank, its branches and several subsidiaries. Where you live decides which one, and that decides your protection.

Where you live	Entity	Regulator	Compensation if assets are missing
Denmark, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Czech Republic, UAE	Saxo Bank A/S or its branch	Danish FSA	Danish Guarantee Fund, €20,000 for securities; deposits €100,000
UK	Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd	FCA (FRN 551422)	FSCSDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary, £85,000
Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Singapore	Local Saxo subsidiary	FINMA, Consob/Bank of Italy, FSA Japan, MAS	Local scheme

We base the score on the Danish bank and the UK company. Saxo does not serve US residents. In 2025 it agreed to sell a majority of its Australian business to DMA, so Australian clients should check their agreement.

How is my money protected at Saxo?

At Saxo Bank A/S, your shares and bonds are held in custody for you. If the bank were wound up, they should be returned rather than used to pay its debts. If some could not be returned, the Danish Guarantee Fund would cover the shortfall up to €20,000 per investor. That is the EU minimum, the same as at DEGIRO, and small against a large portfolio.

Cash works differently. Uninvested cash at the Danish bank is a bank deposit, not money held in trust, so it is covered by the Danish deposit guaranteeDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary up to €100,000. Above that you are a creditor of Saxo Bank. For most investors with modest cash balances this is fine; for someone parking several hundred thousand euros it is a real exposure to one bank.

UK clients are under FCA client-money and custody rules. Saxo UK says it keeps client cash and assets in segregated trust accounts and reconciles them daily. It may hold securities through outside custodians, sometimes abroad, where local law can differ. If Saxo UK failed and assets were missing, the FSCS would pay up to £85,000 per person. Saxo UK's own protection page also quotes £120,000 for investments; that figure is the FSCS limit for bank deposits, and the investment limit is £85,000.

Securities lending at Saxo is opt-in, unlike DEGIRO, where it is on by default. We found no excess insurance on top of the statutory schemes.

Who owns Saxo, and is it financially strong?

Founder Kim Fournais ran Saxo from 1992 until 2026. China's Geely held a large minority stake for several years, and Finland's Mandatum also owned shares. In 2026 J. Safra Sarasin Group, the Swiss private banking group of the Safra family, completed the purchase of about 71% after approval by FINMA and the Danish FSA. In July 2026 it agreed to buy Fournais's remaining 28.69%, which still needs regulatory approval. Daniel Belfer, previously chief executive of Bank J. Safra Sarasin, now runs Saxo, and Fournais is chairman.

The numbers are good. Net profit was €87 million in the first half of 2026, up from €73 million, on €375 million of income. Client assets reached €153 billion across 1.7 million clients. CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital was 20.3% of risk-weighted assets, and S&P moved its outlook to positive in August 2026, partly because of the new owner. Saxo is not listed, but as a bank it publishes audited reports and quarterly capital disclosures.

What has the Danish FSA found at Saxo?

The Danish FSA must publish its inspection reports, and Saxo lists them on its website. The ones that matter most:

• AMLAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary fine, 2026: an inspection in May 2023 of correspondent relationships with other financial firms led to 12 orders over customer checks and monitoring. Saxo says all were closed by November 2024 and no money laundering was found, but it accepted a DKK 313 million administrative fine.
• Professional clients, 2025: the FSA found Saxo had let retail clients opt up to professional status without checking their knowledge of every product type. Professional clients get less protection, so Saxo was ordered to tell those affected.
• Product governance, 2026: a March 2026 inspection found Saxo's reporting could not properly track sales of risky products to clients outside the target group. Saxo was ordered to fix it.
• Fee terms, June 2026: an order because Saxo's terms let it change some fees and interest rates without notice.
• Earlier AML findings: orders after inspections in 2019 and 2021, including slow reporting of suspicious transactions, and a 2021 order over faulty trade reports going back to 2018.

How to keep your Saxo account safe

1. Do not mark shared or public computers as trusted devices. On a trusted device Saxo skips the second login step.
2. Use the Saxo app for login approvals rather than relying on SMS codes, which SIM-swap fraud can intercept.
3. Saxo says it will never ask you to register a new device or read out a verification code. Anyone who does is a fraudster.
4. Keep large cash balances in mind: at the Danish bank, only €100,000 of deposits is guaranteed.
5. If you trade CFDs, read Saxo's loss-rate warning first: 64% of retail CFD accounts lose money with Saxo Bank A/S and 60% with Saxo UK.

How we scored it

Regulation (90) and financial strength (85) are Saxo's strongest factors: a supervised SIFI bank with high capital ratios, an A- rating and a wealthy new owner. Investor protection (74) is held back by the €20,000 EU investor cover and cash held as a bank deposit. Conduct (50) is the weakest, because of the DKK 313 million AMLAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary fine and repeated FSA orders on client protection. Account security scores 74.