The LSE Directory / CFD and forex brokers
Saxo (Saxo Bank A/S) is a Danish investment bank and multi-asset online broker, founded in 1992 in Copenhagen (originally as the brokerage Midas Fondsmaeglerselskab, renamed Saxo Bank in 2001 after obtaining a banking licence) and headquartered in Hellerup, Denmark. It gives retail, high-net-worth and institutional clients access to more than 71,000 financial instruments, including stocks, ETFs, bonds and mutual funds, plus leveraged products such as forex, CFDs, futures and options, through its SaxoInvestor platform (aimed at long-term investing) and the more advanced SaxoTrader platform (web, mobile and desktop, with deeper charting and margin products). Saxo differentiates itself from most retail CFD brokers by combining a genuine banking licence and direct market access with a large B2B business: alongside its own retail and private-client brands, it runs a white-label and API technology arm, using SaxoInvestor/SaxoTrader infrastructure plus FIX and OpenAPI connectivity, that powers trading and investing for more than 400 partner banks, brokers and wealth managers worldwide. This licensing-plus-infrastructure model, rather than a pure spread-betting or CFD-only shop, is its main point of differentiation within the online trading category. Saxo is a fully licensed Danish bank regulated by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, designated a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI) and rated investment grade by S&P. It was founded by Lars Seier Christensen and Kim Fournais. Chinese conglomerate Geely became majority owner in 2018 alongside the Finnish group now known as Mandatum; on 2 March 2026, Bank J. Safra Sarasin Group completed the acquisition of roughly 71 percent of Saxo from Geely and Mandatum, with Kim Fournais retaining about 28 percent and moving from CEO to chairman. Daniel Belfer, previously CEO of Bank J. Safra Sarasin, became Saxo Bank CEO on completion of the deal. At that point Saxo reported serving more than 1.7 million clients and over 400 partners, with client assets exceeding DKK 1 trillion (roughly USD 150 billion), and more than 2,400 employees across offices including London, Amsterdam, Zurich, Dubai, Singapore and Tokyo. Saxo has been narrowing its geographic footprint even as its client base has grown: it closed its Hong Kong and Shanghai offices on 30 September 2024, consolidating its Asia-Pacific presence in Singapore, and in February 2025 announced the sale of an 80.1 percent stake in its Australian business to DMA under a white-label partnership. The 2026 change of control brings Saxo into the Safra banking group while, per the deal announcement, Saxo Bank continues to operate as a separate, independently branded entity.
