Interactive Brokers vs Saxo Bank

There are tens of thousands of foreign exchange dealers in the world. How to carefully and effectively choose a suitable dealer is a compulsory course for every trader. Next, let’s discuss two well-known foreign exchange dealers:Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank.

Company Info

Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank are two well-known foreign exchange brokers that have a certain influence in the foreign exchange trading market. Interactive Brokers is a U.S.-based global brokerage firm founded in 1978 and is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: IBKR). The company provides a variety of financial products and services worldwide, including stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange, and more. The company offers complete 24/7 customer support services including email, live chat, and phone support. Very convenient for people's transactions.

Saxo Bank is a global investment bank originating from Denmark. It was founded in 1992. It is headquartered in Copenhagen and has branches in many countries and regions. Saxo Bank provides a variety of financial products and services, including foreign exchange, stocks, futures, options, bonds, commodities and unlisted investment products. While they have a wide range of financial products, they offer multiple customer support channels, including live chat, email, and phone support.

The two companies provide trading in foreign exchange, stocks, futures and other financial products. However, Saxo Bank puts more emphasis on investment banking services, providing a wider range of financial instruments and services, including stocks, bonds, options, commodities, indices, etc. Interactive Brokers mainly focuses on stocks, futures and other transactions.

Regulation

For foreign exchange traders, a safe and effective regulatory environment is an essential condition. Only with good supervision will there be more traders. As two established foreign exchange traders, Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank also have certain differences in foreign exchange supervision. Interactive Brokers is a company produced in the United States, so it is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and has extensive global market access. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established in 1934 under the Securities Exchange Act. It is an independent quasi-judicial agency directly under the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the supervision and management of securities in the United States. It is the highest authority in the U.S. securities industry. mechanism. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is an American private company that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets as a self-regulatory organization (SRO). FINRA was formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the member regulatory, enforcement and arbitration business of the New York Stock Exchange. The final regulator of the U.S. securities industry, including FINRA, is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). FINRA is the largest independent regulator of all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA's mission is to protect investors by ensuring that the U.S. securities industry operates fairly and honestly. It is also worth mentioning that these two regulatory agencies are not the only ones in the United States, there are also the famous National Futures Association (NFA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It is an independent federal agency whose full English name is Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It was created by the U.S. Congress in 1974. Its main responsibility is to regulate the U.S. commodity futures and options market. The main function of NFA is to strictly abide by federal laws and CFTC rules for NFA members and implement strict management. NFA also has its own rules to supervise the behavior of brokers towards traders and investors, so that traders and investors are protected from deception.

Saxo Bank originated in Denmark, so it is supervised by multiple regulatory agencies such as the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA), and also has global market access. The Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Financial Affairs is the financial regulatory agency of the Danish government. Its main purpose is to develop regulatory guidance for Danish financial institutions and monitor their compliance, while cooperating with regional and international institutions and regulatory bodies. The FSA works in partnership with the European Banking Authority, (EBA), an independent EU agency dedicated to ensuring effective and consistent prudential supervision across the European banking sector. At the same time, Saxo Bank is also regulated by the UK FCA and New Zealand FINMA. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the UK Financial Conduct Authority, is a financial regulatory agency in the UK, but is independent of the UK government. operates and is funded by fees collected from members of the financial services industry. The UK Financial Conduct Authority is primarily responsible for regulating financial institutions that provide services to consumers and maintaining the integrity of the UK financial market.

Each different regulatory agency has different functions, but as a trader, you must know that when choosing a platform, it is very important to check its regulatory agency. Unregulated platforms must be cautious when depositing money.

Account Types

Both Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank offer different types of accounts to meet the needs of different investors.

Interactive Brokers account types:

1.Individual Account: An account independently owned and managed by an individual. Trading permissions and account management: Both holders have permissions for all functions. Additional users can be added by signing a power of attorney.

2.Joint Account: An account jointly owned and managed by several individuals. There are the following forms of joint accounts: Mutually Inherited Co-Ownership System, General Co-Owned Ownership System, Married Co-owned Property System, and Married Co-owned Co-owned System. Assets held in a single account owned by two users. Trading permissions and account management: Both holders have permissions to all functions. Additional users can be added by signing a power of attorney.

3.Corporate Account: An account used by a legal entity (such as a company, partnership, etc.).

4.Advisor Account: An account managed by an independent investment advisor on behalf of a client.

Saxo Bank account types:

1.Individual Account: an account independently owned and managed by an individual.

2.Corporate Account (Corporate Account): An account used by a legal entity (such as a company, partnership, etc.).

3.Institutional Account: Accounts for large institutions such as financial institutions, fund companies, and insurance companies.

4.High-net-worth personal account (Private Banking Account): An account for high-net-worth individual customers, usually with more flexible services and dedicated account managers.

Specific account types and features may vary according to the regulations of different brokers and regions. When choosing an account type, factors such as personal investment goals, risk tolerance, legal entity and regulatory requirements need to be considered. It is recommended that before choosing an account type, carefully study the characteristics of each account type, and consult with relevant brokers for more detailed information.

Platforms

Today's foreign exchange traders provide comprehensive services. For example, your own trading platform can ensure stable and smooth operation. Both Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank have their own trading platforms. Let's introduce them now:

Interactive Brokers offers multiple trading platforms, the most well-known and commonly used of which are Trader Workstation (TWS) and IBKR Mobile.

1.Trader Workstation (TWS): TWS is the main trading platform of Interactive Brokers and can be used on operating systems such as Windows, Mac and Linux. TWS is powerful and supports the trading of a variety of financial products, including stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange, etc. It offers real-time quotes, advanced order types, charting tools, multi-language support, and global market access.

2.IBKR Mobile: IBKR Mobile is Interactive Brokers’ mobile trading app, available for iOS and Android devices. It provides convenient trading functions, and users can conduct transactions, view real-time market conditions, manage accounts, etc. anytime and anywhere. Compared with the TWS platform, its functions are simpler, but it still provides basic trading tools and market data.

Saxo Bank mainly provides two trading platforms, namely SaxoTrader and SaxoTraderGo.

1.SaxoTrader: SaxoTrader is a powerful professional trading platform suitable for desktop devices such as PC and Mac. It has a wealth of trading tools and functions, including real-time quotes, trading charts, professional analysis tools, multiple order types, etc.

2.SaxoTraderGo: SaxoTraderGo is Saxo Bank’s mobile trading app, available for iOS and Android devices. It provides convenient trading functions and market data, and its interface design is relatively simple, but it still supports transactions in a variety of financial products.

Each of these trading platforms has its own unique features and functionality, and the choice should be made based on personal preference, device usage, and desired trading functionality. It is recommended to download and try the demo version of the relevant platform or consult a broker for more detailed information before choosing.

Costs and Fees

The two companies differ in terms of fees and charges. Interactive Brokers offers lower trading commissions, but there may be some additional fees, such as platform usage fees, data subscription fees, etc. Saxo Bank's commissions are relatively high, but there are usually no additional fees.

Deposit and Withdrawal

Different platforms also have different requirements for deposits and withdrawals. Most platforms support multiple methods of deposits and withdrawals to ensure that each trader can conduct transactions safely and effectively in terms of funds. In Interactive Brokers, it has two deposit and withdrawal methods, such as Bank Transfer and Bpay, both of which do not require handling fees. On the Saxo Bank platform, it supports four deposit and withdrawal methods: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, and Bank/Wire Transfer. However, for this dealer, different deposit and withdrawal methods require different handling fees. Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro all need to charge a handling fee of 0.51% - 2.86%, while Bank/Wire Transfer is free. It can be known from this that different traders have different charging requirements for different deposit and withdrawal methods. Traders should choose carefully according to their own needs and choices and trade safely.

In summary, Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank are both well-known foreign exchange brokers, but they have some differences in terms of background, regulation, products, trading platforms, fees and deposit requirements. Which company to choose depends on individual investment needs and preferences. It is highly recommended to carefully research and compare the strengths and weaknesses of different brokers before choosing one.