Exclusive: Saxo Bank CHF Handling Cleared by Third Danish Authority
The Danish Complaint Board of Banking Services cleared Saxo Bank of any wrongdoing related to CHF resettlement.

Danish multi-asset brokerage Saxo Bank is further solidifying its position when it comes to the handling of the Swiss franc crisis in January 2015. The company has now been cleared of any wrongdoing by a third Danish authority.
The Danish Complaint Board of Banking Services (Pengeinstitutankenaevnet) has announced that the company handled the Swiss National Bank situation properly. The complaint submitted to the authority was related to the resettlement of a stop loss order to a lower level.
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A longtime Greek client of the firm submitted a complaint which was reviewed, warranting no further action. The client has agreed to the terms and conditions which contain a risk disclosure statement and is therefore fully liable for his loss of around £70,000.
Client Trade Details
On January 15th 2015, the client held a position in the EUR/CHF pair with a stop-loss order associated with the transaction set at 1.1960. With the sudden rise of the Swiss franc the position was closed at 9:30 GMT at a settlement rate which was roughly the same as the stop-loss price.
Less than an hour and a half later, at 10:52 GMT, Saxo Bank sent an email to affected clients outlining that customers who were affected by the sudden increase in CHF should expect changes to settlement prices.
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With the login of the client into the platform at 18:44 GMT, the client front-end automatically generated the real settlement rate, which in this case was 0.9625. Due to the substantial difference, the client incurred a significantly greater loss than expected.
Third Danish Authority Clears Saxo Bank
After 2015, the Danish FSA issued an opinion that a clarification on the matter of handling the complaints should be issued by the Danish Complaint Board of Banking Services. The decision could also have EU-wide implications, due to the creation of a legal precedent.
Back in 2015 the Danish FSA stated that the the resettlement method used by Saxo Bank was not in conflict with the regulations that “a securities dealer must act honestly and professionally”.
Commenting to Finance Magnates, the CFO of Saxo Bank, Steen Blafaalk, said: “We now have conclusions on the matter from three relevant authorities in Saxo Bank’s favor. The conclusions are in line with our expectations and help set the direction for remaining court cases.”
“The Danish Complaint Board of Banking Services concluded in Saxo Bank’s favor saying that Saxo Bank had acted in a way that was fair and correct, and in accordance with the bank’s general terms of business. The board further concluded that the corrected prices contributed to reach the, under the circumstances, best results for clients,” Blafaalk explained.
Wait a second:”With the sudden rise of the Swiss franc the position was closed at 9:30 GMT at a settlement rate which is roughly the same as the stop-loss price.”
In the older days “resettlements” were a malpractice that led to various regulatory changes. Because it bear the danger that dealers would prefer certain clients to the detriment of other clients of the same dealer.
This court decision is MAJOR LEGAL BULLSH.T!!!!
I absolutely agree. To say that it is an ‘authority’ is an exaggeration…
Forget saxo, one cannot even guarantee proper entries or exits with larger banks like Braclays, Deutsche, Credit Suisse, and they handle billion dollar clips in a single go.
Saxo bank or for that matter any other broker cannot be held accountable for out of the ordinary market movements.
Not everything is a conspiracy like a small minority of participants might think.
Good to see Saxo in the green on this one.
“The board further concluded that the corrected prices contributed to reach the, under the circumstances, best results for clients.”
Is this some kind of a joke? This were best results for the broker!!!
saxo bank are always very honest and if there was slippage then it happened
and what about UK ombudsman decision? and other decisions regarding 15 Jan 2015 out of DK.. all of them were issued with completely different results – this is just a result of Danish finance mafia system..
Agreed. This is corruption for sure, and goes completely against European laws and MIFID.
Biggest problem is, that not enough people know that this was a huge theft. Otherwise markets would suffer. Who is ready to invest money, if the broker can reset closed prices, as it fits to him? That’s ridiculous.
It would be high time to get rid of the cheater politicians all across Europe. And close Sucks-O down.
http://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/viewPDF.aspx?FileID=145580