CFDs trading conditions
CFDs on Indices
Saxo Bank Switzerland currently offer trading in the US2000 expiring Stock Index Tracker CFD, which gives exposure to 2,000 small-cap US Stocks.
The US2000 Index-Tracker CFD tracks the price of the underlying Futures contract and is traded with the Futures' market spread with a small mark-up. There are no other fees or commissions applied, however, a small minimum trade size apply.
The US2000 Index-Tracker CFD expires quarterly similar to the Futures contract. Once expired, it is cash settled on the expiry date. Any positions still open at the time of expiry will be automatically closed at the market price.
Manual roll of a position from one expiry to another may be done until the time of expiry occurs (i.e. 17:00 New York time).
With Saxo Bank Switzerland you can trade the most popular indices in the trading session timeframe up to 22 hours.
See trading hours for each Index-tracking CFD under 'Contract details'.
Short selling of Index-tracking CFDs is fully supported with Saxo Bank Switzerland.
Limit, Market, Stop, Stop Limit and Trailing Stop orders are supported. In addition you are able to place If Done and One Cancels Other (OCO) conditional orders.
A Stop Order to sell your position is triggered on the bid price and Stop Orders to buy are triggered on the ask price.
The tax will be applied to all Italian Derivatives whose underlying assets are equity instruments issued by Italian companies
The Italian FTT for Derivatives applies irrespective of the location of the client or the jurisdiction of the transaction, so everyone trading Italian Derivatives will have to pay new Italian FTT for Buys and Sells.
Index Tracker: Italy 40 (ITALY40.I)
| Notional Value (EUR) | 0-2.5k | 2.5-5k | 5-10k | 10k-50k | 50-100k | 100-500k | 500-1,000k | Over 1,000k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tax (EUR) | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 50 | 100 | 200 |
When an underlying stock that is part of an Index goes ex-dividend, entitlements will be allocated on the ex-date but the actual value of the payment will be settled on Pay Date. The Index CFD will be price adjusted to reflect this dividend. The weighted proportion of the applicable dividend within the Index, will be credited to the client's account for long positions and debited for short positions.
Index Dividend = Share Dividend * Shares in Index / Index Divisor*.
* Divisor: an amount used to stabilise the index value when its composition changes. The sum of all index members' prices is divided by the divisor to achieve the normalised index value. The divisor is adjusted when capitalisation amendments are made to the index members, allowing the index value to remain comparable always.
To prevent the value of an index from changing due to such an event, all corporate actions that affect the market capitalisation of the index, require a divisor adjustment to ensure that the index values remain constant immediately, before and after the event.
CFDs on Stocks and ETFs
Trading Cash Stock CFDs on live streaming prices with Saxo Bank Switzerland requires a subscription to the relevant exchange data.
To benefit from trading Single Stock CFDs on live streaming prices without a delay for free, you have to make at least four (4) Cash Stock CFD trades on your account monthly.
Note this is valid for non-professional traders only. Read more about data fee refund for active equity trading on the page Market data subscriptions.
Market, Limit and Stop orders are supported. Stop Limit and Trailing Stops (the order moves in line with the market) are also available. You can place conditional 'If Done' and 'O.C.O.' (One Cancels Other) orders as well.
Saxo Bank Switzerlandmay choose to convert Market orders into aggressive Limit orders. This will be to comply with exchange restrictions and internal compliance.
Market orders may also be subject to a conversion by our executing brokers for the same reasons.
Please note that it is the client's responsibility to check if the order is filled in the market after order entry. Saxo Bank Switzerland will not be responsible for missing fills due to this.
| Exchange |
|---|
| NYSE MKT (AMEX – American Stock Exchange) |
| Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) |
| ATDens Exchange (AT) |
| London Stock Exchange (LSE_SETS) |
| Oslo Børs/Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) |
| NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen (CSE) |
| NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (HSE) |
| Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST) |
| BME Spanish Exchanges (SIBE) |
Poland - Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)
Broker's Market orders may be submitted to the exchange only during the continuous trading phase, except when balancing occurs. For any such order to be accepted, at least one opposite Limit order must be awaiting execution.
A broker's Market order shall be executed at the price of the best opposite buy or, as the case may be, sell order awaiting execution.
Where any Market order is partly executed, the unexecuted portion shall become a Limit order at the last price.
US - American Stock Exchange (AMEX)
Due to a limited order book on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) Saxo Bank Switzerland does not support Market orders on this exchange. Clients should use Limit orders instead.
Should you experience or suspect any errors with your orders, contact Saxo Bank Switzerland immediately.
A Limit order is an order to buy a Stock at no higher than a predefined price or to sell a Stock at no less than a predefined price.
For example, a Buy Limit order can only be executed at the Limit price or lower. A Sell Limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher. The advantage here of course is that a trader is able to put a minimum control on the order.
A Stop order is by definition an order to get out (sell stop) or into a position (buy stop) of a position immediately. Saxo Bank Switzerland uses the Smart Order Routing process for CFDs to execute these emergency orders with access to the best available liquidity across venues at the time the order is sent*. Stop orders are commonly used to exit positions and to protect investments in the event that the market moves against an open position.
| Stop orders are placed | Stop order to SELL | Stop order to BUY |
|---|---|---|
| Stops on Single Stock CFDs are executed | the stop price is traded | the stop price is traded |
For US markets, Saxo Bank Switzerland uses sweep algorithms to add liquidity from more venues than the primary exchange. This implies that orders can be filled before trading commences on the primary exchange.
Market orders placed after 09:30 EST will not be filled before the Stock is crossed on the primary exchange. Stop orders are triggered on the primary market price feed and follow the routing rules listed above for market orders. As some stops are handled manually delays can sometimes occur.
Partial fills may occur on Limit orders and the remaining amount stays in the market as a Limit order and may be filled within the order duration. Market orders can be filled at numerous levels, the price paid will be the volume weighted average price of all the fills.
Algorithmic orders are available for both Cash Stocks and Single Stock CFDs. Essentially, Algorithmic orders provide clients with the opportunity to trade through various strategies with larger ticket sizes that may otherwise impact the market price. They can also break down an order in smaller bites to avoid showing the full size of their order. This may be of particular interest for clients trading Stocks and Single Stock CFDs outside of the most liquid names. The following algorithmic order types are offered:
- VWAP
- TWAP
- With Volume
- Implementation Shortfall
- Pre-Market Limit
- Iceberg
- Reload
- Dark
- Liquidity Seeking
- Market on Close
- Limit on Close
Supported markets:
| APAC | EMEA | NORTH AMERICA |
|---|---|---|
| Australia Hong Kong Japan Singapore | Austria Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Portugal South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom | Canada United States |
More informations on Algorithmic and advanced orders in SaxoTraderPRO
When short selling a CFD, you will be subject to the rules for the Stock market in that particular market. For example, when short selling CFDs, you may experience forced closure of a position if your CFDs get recalled. This may happen if the underlying Stock becomes hard to borrow due to corporate events such as take overs, dividends, rights offerings (and other merger and acquisition activities) or increased hedge fund selling of the Stock.
Please note that short sell orders with "Good-Til-Canceled" (G.T.C.) or "Good-Til-Date" (G.T.D.) duration may be cancelled if borrow availability ceases. We recommend that you monitor short sell orders entered outside market hours or running across multiple days closely.
You may experience limitations on the amount of CFDs you can short trade in a single day due to limited borrowing availability in the underlying market.
A borrowing cost will be applied to your short Cash Stock CFD positions held overnight. This borrowing cost is dependent on the liquidity of the Stocks and may be zero (0) for high liquidity Stocks. More details on the borrowing cost are available under Prices, Single Stock CFD.
Short-selling restrictions
The Board of Directors of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) decided on 28 January 2013 to prohibit the short selling only in relation to shares of credit institutions admitted to trading on the Athens Exchange and comprising the FTSE/AthEX-CSE Banking Index from 1 February 2013 until 30 April 2013.
Special events
Based on the market signals Saxo Bank Switzerland gets from its brokers in regards to the consequences of Greece potentially leaving the Euro, we find it necessary to inform our clients holding Greek CFD positions that in the event of Greece leaving the Euro it will be creating exceptional market conditions.
Therefore please be advised that if Greece leaves the Euro Saxo Bank Switzerland may:
- close all Greek CFD positions held by our clients at the price that Saxo Bank Switzerland has available at that time, and
- the currency conversion away from Euro will be done at the conversion rates that Saxo Bank Switzerland has available.
Long Single Stock CFD trade
When you expect the price of a stock to go up, you can choose to take a long position in a Single Stock CFD.
In this example you expect the Barclays Bank share price to RISE from its current mid-price of £1.72. You have £10,000 to place on margin. With Saxo Bank you have a 10:1 leverage on this instrument, meaning you only have to place 10% of the trade amount on margin.
You decide to buy 50,000 CFDs at the offer price of £1.73 which gives you a position of (50,000*£1.73) £86,500 in notional value.
Each day you hold the long position open you pay financing cost on the notional opening value of the position.
The interest rate used is LIBOR+3% (0.27144%+3% = 3.27144%). 10 days later, the Barclays price has risen and you sell the 50,000 CFDs at £1.85.
The trade details are:
| Opening the position | How to calculate | Amount (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| Margin Available | £10,000 x 10 | 100,000 |
| Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.73 | 86,500 |
| Margin used | £86,500 x 0.10 | 8,650 |
| Commissions on the trade | £86,500 x 0.10% | -86,50 |
| Stamp Duty | n/a | |
| Financing of position | ||
| Financing of margin | 3.27144% x 10 days x £86,500 / 360 | 78.61 |
| Borrowing costs | n/a | |
| Closing of position | ||
| Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.85 | 92,500 |
| Commission on the trade | £92,500 x 0.10% | -92.50 |
| Profit / Loss | ||
| Profit on trade | £92,500 - £86,500 | 6,000 |
| Total Cost | £86.50 + £78.61 + £92.50 | 257.61 |
| Total Profit | £6.000 - £257.61 | 5,742.39 |
Short Single Stock CFD trade
When you expect the price of a Stock to fall, you can choose to take a short position in a Single Stock CFD.
In this example you expect the Barclays Bank share price to FALL from its current mid-price of £1.72. You have £10,000 to place on margin. With Saxo Bank you have a 10:1 leverage on this instrument, meaning you only have to place 10% of the trade amount on margin.
You decide to sell 50,000 CFDs at the offer price of £1.71 which gives you a position of (50,000*£1.71) £85,500 in notional value.
Each day you hold the short position open you receive financing cost on the notional opening value of the position.
The interest rate used is LIBID – 2.5% (0.26561%-2.5% = -2.23439%). Since the rate is negative you effectively have to pay 2.23439% overnight financing. 10 days later, the Barclays price has fallen and you sell the 50,000 CFDs at £1.65.
The trade details are:
| Opening the position | How to calculate | Amount (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| Margin Available | £10,000 x 10 | 100,000 |
| Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.71 | 85,500 |
| Margin used | £85,500 x 0.10 | 8,550 |
| Commissions on the trade | £85,500 x 0.10% | -85,50 |
| Stamp Duty | n/a | |
| Financing of position | ||
| Financing of margin | 2.23439% x 10 days x £85,500 / 360 | 53.07 |
| Borrowing costs | No borrowing costs on Barclays | n/a |
| Closing of position | ||
| Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.65 | 82,500 |
| Commission on the trade | £82,500 x 0.10% | -82.50 |
| Profit / Loss | ||
| Profit on trade | £85,500 - £82,500 | 3,000 |
| Total Cost | £85.50 + £53.07 + £82.50 | 221.07 |
| Total Profit | £3.000 - £221.07 | 2,778.93 |
Local trade restrictions may apply to CFDs. If you are unsure of local restrictions in your region please visit your local language website (select from the menu at the top of this page) or Contact Us for more information.
The tax will be applied to all Italian Derivatives whose underlying assets are equity instruments issued by Italian companies
The Italian FTT for Derivatives applies irrespective of the location of the client or the jurisdiction of the transaction, so everyone trading Italian Derivatives will have to pay new Italian FTT for Buys and Sells.
Italian single stock CFDs
| Notional Value (EUR) | 0-2.5k | 2.5-5k | 5-10k | 10k-50k | 50-100k | 100-500k | 500-1,000k | Over 1,000k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tax (EUR) | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 50 | 100 | 200 |
Due to market conditions, a number of financial authorities are announcing rule changes that affect short-selling of physical Stocks. These rule changes are put in place to protect the integrity and quality of the securities market and strengthen investor confidence. As a consequence, the changes may affect short-selling of related CFDs.
It is the client’s responsibility to keep informed about what markets imply restrictions in short-selling. This can be done by contacting local authorities. List of CFDs available for short-selling is available under CFD Trading Conditions on Saxo trading platforms.
It is standard practice for US depositary receipts to charge an annual administration fee up to USD 0.05 per share depending on the issuing depositary bank. The intent of the fee is to cover costs for the banks that take on the operational processes necessary to issue and trade the depositary receipt line. Typically the fee is deducted when dividend payments are made, however, in case the depositary receipt does not pay a dividend or did not include the custodial fee in their dividend events, the fee will be administered through fee-only events. The dividend fee is stipulated in the Deposit Agreement between the depositary bank and the company based upon industry standards. The Deposit Agreement is filed with the SEC and is readily accessible by the public. The fee per depositary receipt is not dependent on the total amount of dividend being paid but the amount of shares held.
Saxo Bank Switzerland passes on to clients the SEC Section 31 fee of USD 27.80 per million effective 22 May 2024 on US exchange CFD DMA and stock SELL transactions where client orders are entered directly into the underlying market. This fee only applies to US exchanges.
For more information please read press release published by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
CFDs on stocks – Corporate action handling
Saxo Bank will contact clients upon confirmation of a ADR’s / GDR’s being terminated on or before the last trading date for clients to take the relevant corrective action.
For short positions - Saxo Bank Switzerland will contact clients upon confirmation of a ADR’s / GDR’s being terminated on or before the last trading date for clients to take the relevant corrective action.
Additional Stocks are allocated on the Ex-date.
Cash payment is allocated on Ex-date for value Pay date.
Cash dividends are booked on the Pay date based on the holdings as one day prior to the Ex-date. Dividend payments from Stock positions will be credited to the clients account with any applicable withholding taxes deducted.
Currency options are not extended to clients. When a currency option is announced within the framework of an event, the payment will be processed as per the denominated currency of the security listing.
The day before a Corporate Action event is scheduled to take effect (the Ex-date), open orders are deleted for certain event types.
The following details the rules of behaviour:
| Event type | Never delete orders | Always delete orders | Rule defined below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus issue | x | ||
| Capital gains distribution | x | ||
| Cash dividends | x | ||
| Dividend option /Dividend reinvestment | x | ||
| Exchange offer | x | ||
| Liquidation | x | ||
| Mergers & Mergers with elections | x | ||
| Priority issue | x | ||
| Rights issues | x | ||
| Share premiums | x | ||
| Stock dividends | x | ||
| Stock splits / Reverse stock splits | x | ||
| Spin off | x | ||
| Tender offers | x | ||
| Warrant exercise | x |
For distributions and rights issues, all open orders for the given instrument will be deleted if the change in market price is calculated to be over 20%, due to the Corporate Action event.
Some issuers offer an alternative to cash by way of a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) or scrip issue of shares.
Clients holding CFD positions will receive the cash payment. The cash adjustments on CFD positions are booked on the Ex-date reflecting the market price movement on the Ex-date, but the actual value of the payment will be settled on the Pay Date.
For short positions – Where clients hold short positions, they will be liable as per the counterparty instructions and such liability will be notified to clients upon confirmation from the counterparty. Liability will be booked into client accounts upon receipt from prime broker.
For exchange offers, clients holding a position in their portfolio will have the possibility to elect prior to the deadline.
Holdings in the liquidated company will be removed. Liquidation proceeds, if any, will be allocated.
For mandatory Mergers there are different outcomes:
- Cash (distributed on Pay-Date)
- Stocks (distributed on Ex-Date)
- Mix of Cash & Stocks (distributed on Ex-date)
For mergers with elections, clients have the possibility to elect prior to the deadline.
Clients holding the stock as of Ex-date will be given the possibility to subscribe for new shares. The offer to purchase new shares is not transferable.
Tradeable Rights - Rights are granted and booked in accordance with the ratio on the Effective Date (Ex-date), automatically orders for sale of the rights are placed when the relevant market opens for trading. Following the order executions, proceeds from the sold Rights are booked to the client’s account.
For short positions: entitled rights will be covered from the market and will be booked to clients.
If clients wish to participate in the rights offer, clients should consult their respective financial advisor.
Non-Tradeable Rights – Non-tradeable dummy CFD rights are allocated on Ex date, these are booked according to the ratio and price of the underlying rights issue on pay date with the value date as payment date.
- Where the subscription price is lower than the market price of the original tradable instrument Saxo Bank Switzerland will endeavour to subscribe for additional entitlements.
- Where the subscription price is higher than the market price of the original tradable instrument Saxo Bank Switzerland will not participate in the offer.
- Where the subscription price and the market price of the original tradeable instrument are equal Saxo Bank Switzerland will not participate in the offer.
The above price comparison will be carried out on the deadline that Saxo Bank Switzerland has to subscribe for the offer with the relevant broker.
For short positions – Where clients hold short positions, they will be liable as per the counterparty instructions and such liability will be notified to clients upon confirmation from the counterparty. Liability will be booked into client accounts upon receipt from prime broker.
*Australian Listed Events - For certain event types including but not limited to Non-Renounceable Rights Distributions, Subscription Offers, Entitlement Offers, Rapid Offers, Retail Offers. Saxo Bank Switzerland may not be able to participate and as such will not make such offers available to clients.
Share Purchase Plans Events (SPP) will be offered to underlying beneficial owner clients however clients will need to provide the underlying beneficial owner details requested by Saxo Bank Switzerland.
Cash payment is allocated on Ex-date for value Pay date.
Rights are granted and booked in accordance with the ratio on the Effective Date (Ex-date) and automatically orders for sale of the rights are placed when the market opens for trading. Following the order executions, proceeds from the sale of Rights are distributed.
For short positions - Entitled rights will be covered from the market and proceeds debited accordingly.
Special and infrequent Corporate Actions that do not come under the descriptions above, may occur. Saxo Bank Switzerland will handle such Corporate Actions in the best interest of clients to the extent that time and operational process permits.
Additional CFDs are allocated on Ex-date and will be credited accordingly.
For short positions - Clients will be debited accordingly.
Additional Stocks are allocated on the Ex-date for value on the Pay Date.
New Stock positions are allocated on the Ex-date.
Rights are granted and booked in accordance with the ratio on the Effective Date (Ex-date) and automatically orders for sale of the rights are placed when the relevant market opens for trading. Following order executions, proceeds from the sold Rights are booked to client accounts.
For short positions - entitled rights will be covered from the market and proceeds will be debited accordingly.
Clients holding CFD positions will not be given a choice to tender.
Saxo Bank Switzerland will take the following action:
If the security is delisted – Saxo Bank Switzerland will lodge acceptance to participate in the offer.
If the security is not trading – Saxo Bank Switzerland will lodge acceptance to participate in the offer.
If the offer has been converted to a compulsory acquisition – Saxo Bank Switzerland will lodge acceptance to participate in the offer.
For short positions – Clients will be liable as per the counterparty instructions and such liability will be notified to clients upon confirmation from the counterparty. Liability will be booked into client accounts upon receipt from prime broker.
CFDs on Commodities
When trading Commodity CFDs with Saxo Bank Switzerland a commission is not charged, but there is a bid/ask spread included in the price Saxo Bank Switzerland derives for each CFD.
This derivation means that whilst the CFD prices track the underlying Futures spread will be slightly wider.Commodity CFDs at Saxo Bank Switzerland are priced as the market spread on the underlying Futures contract plus a fixed mark-up. See a full list of Commodity CFD Spreads here.
Whilst all Commodity CFDs are priced in single units, often a minimum trade size will apply.Commodity CFDs are denominated in smaller lots than the underlying Futures contract. For example, the US Crude CFD is 25 barrels of oil, rather than 1,000 barrels. Each CFD is quoted as 1 unit of the underlying contract (e.g., 1 barrel), but there will be a minimum trade size. You are also able to reduce an open CFD position to below the minimum trade size. Should you be left with such a position then it should be closed via either the Account Summary or by contacting the dealing desk.
Commodity CFDs give clients exposure to the underlying commodity without the confusion of physical settlement. All Commodity CFDs transactions will be cash settled.
Like Futures, Saxo Bank Switzerland's Commodity CFDs will expire each month and will be cash settled on the expiry date of the underlying future. Front month (current contract) and back month (following contract) will be offered to enable clients to manually roll positions from one contract to the next. The specific expiry date and time for individual Commodity CFDs can be found in the trading platforms on either the Trade or Order tickets plus the Instrument Information pages. .
Trading will cease at the specified time listed in the Contracts Specifications table for each contract. You should pay attention to when the Last Trade Day will take place as it differs contract to contract and month to month. Any positions still open at the close of trading on the Expiry Date will be automatically closed at the closing price set by Saxo Bank Switzerland and cash settled. For trading purposes, Saxo Bank Switzerland will quote both the current expiring month's contract and the following contract, where availability and liquidity allow.
Short selling of Commodity CFDs is fully supported with Saxo Bank Switzerland.
Below is an example to illustrate trading using Commodity CFDs.
Long Position in US Crude - Buy 100 barrels of US Crude CFDs
| Day 1 – the trader is bullish and therefore wants to be long US Crude CFDs. | |
|---|---|
| Trade | Buy 100 CFDs at $59.90 |
| Nominal value | $5990 |
| Margin required (5% margin for first €300k collateral on account, otherwise 10%) | $299.50 |
| Day 5 – the price has risen and the trader wishes to close their position for a profit. | |
|---|---|
| Trade | Sell 100 CFDs at $61.50 |
| Profit | $160 |
| Moving in the underlying commodity | ($61.50 - $59.90) / $59.90 = 2.7% |
In summary the trader took advantage of the leverage that comes with Commodity CFDs. The opening trade was valued at $5990 but the trader had to only provide a margin of 5% or $299.50. The closing trade generated a profit of $1.60 per barrel and whilst that translated to a 2.7% rise in the price of oil, the client realised a profit of $160. Clients should be reminded that while trading leverage products like Commodity CFD can bring increased profitability, they can also increase a trade’s potential loss should the market move against you.
See our Risk Warning.
CFDs on Forex
Forex CFDs carry a minimum trade size of 5,000 which is significantly lower than the Future Contract it is tracking, e.g. 1 lot of Euro/US Dollar Future is EUR 125,000. Minimum trade size of the US Index is 100 units.
Short selling of Forex CFDs is fully supported with Saxo Bank Switzerland.
Similar to Futures Contracts, FX CFDs expire and will be cash settled on the expiry date. Any positions still open at the time of expiry will be automatically closed at the market price.
Manual roll of a position from one expiry to another may be done until the time of expiry. The specific expiry date and time for individual FX CFDs can always be found in the trading platforms under CFD Commodities Trading Conditions and under Prices.
CFDs on Bonds
Bond CFDs are denominated in smaller lot sizes than the underlying Futures contract.
For example, one Bund Futures Contract imposes a EUR 10 tick value for each increment of the Futures price (0.01). As an alternative, you can choose to take your tick value down to EUR 1 with the Bund CFD for the same price increment (0.01).
50 CFDs is the minimum trade size for Bond CFDs
Similar to Futures Contracts, Bond CFDs expire and will be cash settled on the expiry date. Any positions still open at the time of expiry will be automatically closed at the market price.
Manual roll of a position from one expiry to another may be done until the time of expiry. The specific expiry date and time for individual Bond CFDs can always be found in the trading platforms under CFD on Futures Trading Conditions.
Holiday Overview
During holidays, markets and exchanges around the world are closed at certain times. Upcoming holiday schedules will be posted below.
