Worked example

Practising on Saxo Bank's numbers

This is an exercise sheet, not a review. We are going to take three things that Saxo Bank publishes — a spread, a ladder of account types and a list of licences — and turn each of them into something you can do arithmetic with. By the end you should be able to repeat the whole exercise on any firm you come across, which is the actual skill being taught.

The figures we are working from

Nothing below is our estimate. Where a firm has not published something, or we could not read it on a source we trust, the box says so instead of guessing — a habit worth copying when you build your own broker notes.

Exercise one — turn the spread into money

The spread is the gap between the price you can buy at and the price you can sell at, and you pay it the instant you enter. Saxo Bank publishes 0.9 pips on EUR/USD. On its own that number means nothing. Here is how it becomes money.

A 1.0-lot EUR/USD round turn here costs about $9.00 in spread at $10 a pip — before any commission.

Exercise two — read the account ladder

Account tiers are a pricing structure dressed as a status ladder. Saxo Bank offers 3 rungs. Read them as a question — what does each rung ask of me, and what does it give back? — rather than as a set of prizes to climb towards.

1. ClassicThe entry rung. Whatever the published spread applies to, it is almost always this one — so this is the rung your arithmetic above describes.
2. PlatinumA higher rung usually trades a tighter spread for a commission, a larger deposit, or a status test. Convert both pricing models to money per lot before you decide either is cheaper.
3. VIPA higher rung usually trades a tighter spread for a commission, a larger deposit, or a status test. Convert both pricing models to money per lot before you decide either is cheaper.

Account names as published: Classic, Platinum, VIP. Platforms listed: SaxoTraderGO, SaxoTraderPRO, SaxoInvestor, Mobile apps.

Exercise three — what this licence list means for you

A long licence list is not automatically a good sign. What matters to a beginner is a narrower question: which entity would hold my money, and who supervises that entity? Those are often not the same as the impressive name at the top of the list. Here are Saxo Bank's lines, each with a plain reading.

The record behind these numbers

• Saxo Bank A/S was founded in Denmark in 1992 and received its banking licence in 2001.
• Saxo Bank A/S holds Danish FSA licence no. 1149 (company registration no. 15731249).
• In June 2023 Saxo Bank was classified as a systemically important financial institution (SIFI) in Denmark.
• The UK entity, Saxo Capital Markets UK Ltd, is authorised by the FCA under firm reference number 551422.
• The Hong Kong SFC reprimanded and fined Saxo Capital Markets HK Limited HK$4 million on 6 January 2026 for allowing retail clients to trade virtual asset products that should only have been offered to professional investors, between 1 November 2018 and 25 November 2022 (SFC enforcement news release: https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/news-and-announcements/news/doc?refNo=26PR1).
• J. Safra Sarasin Group announced the completion of its acquisition of a majority stake in Saxo Bank (group media release: https://jsafrasarasin.com/en/company/annual-reports-and-media-releases/J-Safra-Sarasin-Group-completes-the-acquisition-of-majority-stake-in-Saxo-Bank.html); Finance Magnates reported the close on 2 March 2026, with Daniel Belfer installed as CEO.
• The official Australian legal page now identifies Totality Wealth Limited (formerly Saxo Capital Markets (Australia)) with ABN 32 110 128 286 and AFSL 280372; the site presents the Australian business as Totality (formerly Saxo Australia) (https://www.home.saxo/en-au/legal/client-money/saxo-client-money).

pipdojo.com does not rank brokers, does not award badges and does not tell you where to open an account. This page exists so the arithmetic you learn in the curriculum has real numbers to bite on.