Bonds trading conditions

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Execution policy

Please find our Best Execution policy here

Trading hours

The trading hours for online bonds trading are as follows:

Australia and New Zealand09:00 – 17:00Tokyo hours
Asia09:00 – 18:00Tokyo hours
Central Eastern Europe08:00 – 17:00London hours
Middle East and Africa08:00 – 17:00London hours
European market (corporate and government)08:00 – 17:00London hours
US market (government)22:00 – 16:00New York hours
US market (corporate)09:00 – 16:00New York hours
Latin America09:00 – 16:00New York hours

The trading hours for offline bonds trading is 24/5.

Minimum trading size

The minimum trading size for any bond trade can vary and depends on the individual terms of the bond. 

For online traded bonds, unless the minimum trading size as defined by the terms of the bond is higher, Saxo Bank will apply a minimum of nominal USD 10,000 or the equivalent when trading bonds in other currencies.

Saxo Bank is not able to accept any orders below this minimum trading size.

Saxo Bank will not provide any advice on any tax issues related to any services.

Clients are advised to obtain individual independent counsel from a financial advisor, auditor or legal counsel with respect to tax implications of the respective services.

On an informal basis, we do provide tax relief at source for US products, subject to IRS documentation being in place and the country of residence of the client having a double taxation treaty in place with the US.

Corporate action handling

Governments Bonds for United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Canada and Germany: Coupon payment for these markets are made contractually on the announced pay date as per the terms of the security. Any discrepancy in the payment will be passed to client after the pay date should the terms change.

For all other markets: Coupon payment for other markets will be made once these have been received by Saxo.

Corporate Bonds: Coupon payment for other markets are made once these have been received by Saxo. 

Currently, the upstream service providers of Saxo Bank are unable to support Bond Holders Meetings and consent events, thereby restricting our ability to provide these experiences to our valued Bond holding clients. It is crucial to understand that these events may occasionally entail a participation fee, serving as a form of appreciation for clients. However, in such cases, we cannot assure client participation or offer compensation for any associated fees.

Nevertheless, should we receive timely requests from our bond holding clients at least one day before the deadline, we will exert our utmost efforts to facilitate their participation in these events.

Governments Bonds for United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Canada and Germany: Maturity payment for these markets are made contractually on the announced pay date as per the terms of the security.

Any discrepancy (debit or credit of funds) in the payment will be passed to client after the pay date should issue terms change between announcement date and the pay date.

For all other markets, payment for government bonds are made once these have been received by Saxo.

Corporate Bonds:  Payment for government bonds are made once these have been received by Saxo.

Such events are offered with all the relevant announcement details and options that are available to Saxo. Clients participating are consenting to a proposal by a third party or the issuer such as a change to the security terms.

Corporate actions events may result in entitlements in the product which cannot be supported. In case of such entitlements, an information only event will be advised to move the resultant entitlements to another broker upon receipt. Saxo Bank do not hold any liability on any losses or compliance arising. Saxo Bank advise clients to read the documents for the terms and conditions of the offer.

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 typeNever delete ordersAlways delete ordersRule defined below
Bond coupons   x
Bond redemption (maturity) 
Partial redemption 
Consent events 
Disclosure eventsx  
Drawing x 
Payment in kind x 
Exchange offer 
Liquidation 
Mergers & Mergers with elections 
Priority issue 
Tender offers
 

For dividends 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.

Such events are offered where there would be a requirement by law of the country of incorporation of the issuer for tax purposes or if the issuer offers holders a fee for participation.

Governments Bonds for United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Canada and Germany: payment for these markets are made contractually on the announced pay date as per the issuer.

Any discrepancy (debit or credit of funds) in the payment, will be passed to client after the pay date if issue terms changes between the announcement date and the pay date.

Proceeds include coupon and principal payment as per pool factor reduction.

For other markets, redemption payment for government bonds are made once these have been received by Saxo.

Corporate actions events are announced in different markets whereby documents and beneficial owner details may be required. In such cases, Saxo Bank will specify the information in the event notification, to advise the client of the additional requirements to fulfil by the stated deadline. Clients are advised to refer to the event notification details. All documents are shared with clients on a separate email where applicable. Clients are advised to check with their advisor, for legal and compliance matters.

In the event of missing or incomplete documents, client instructions may be rejected. No liability will be accepted in the event of missing or incomplete documents.

In such cases, clients are advised to respond to the original email which will be provided by Saxo Bank, with the additional requirements stipulated. Any deviation from the original email may result in delay or non-acceptance of the documents / instructions.

For exchange offers, customers holding a position in their portfolio will have the possibility to elect prior to the deadline. Please note that any holdings that have elected to exchange, will be debited on the instruction deadline date and will be booked on a dummy security (represented by a LOCK  symbol). This is to prevent elected holdings from being sold before the payment date. The exchange entitlement will be booked upon receipt from the agent.

In the case where scale back of exchange occurs, holdings not accepted will be unblocked and proceeds for the accepted exchange instructions will be booked upon receipt from the agent.

In corporate actions, issuers may announce to offer resultant entitlements in different markets. In such cases, resultant entitlements first should be transferred and registered in the respective markets and after that will be available for trading. Such movements may take additional time. During the transfer period client entitlements will be blocked for trading.

Holdings in the liquidated company will be removed. Liquidation proceeds, if any, will be allocated upon receipt.

Liquidation proceeds are processed in three different forms:

  • Worthless removal of holdings: If the issuer announces the liquidation it may process the removal of the holdings without any proceeds. There is no guarantee of payment in case of liquidation.
  • Partial removal of holdings with payment: Issuer may announce to remove the holdings partially, with proceeds calculated and determined in the meetings or by the court if applicable.
  • Complete removal of holdings with payment: Issuer may announce to remove the complete holdings, with proceeds calculated and determined in the meetings or by the court as applicable.

Mandatory corporate action events are processed on ex-date and which result in tradeable entitlement. However, in some cases pay date of the event is not confirmed or beyond the tradeable cycle. In such cases, Saxo Bank will process the entitlement to a dummy security to block the trading. Resultant entitlements will be booked to clients accounts as soon as received from agent.

For mandatory mergers there are different outcomes: 

  1. Cash (distributed on Pay-Date) 
  2. Stock (distributed on Ex-Date with future value date) 
  3. Mix of Cash & Stock (distributed on Ex-date with future value date)

For mergers with elections, clients have the possibility to elect prior to the deadline. Please note that any holdings elected to merge, will be debited on the instructions deadline date and will be booked on a dummy security. This is to prevent elected holdings from trading, the merger entitlement will be booked upon receipt from the agent.

In the case where scale back occurs, holdings not accepted will be unblocked and proceeds for the accepted merger, will be booked as soon as practical upon receipt from the agent.

Sometimes a Corporate Action involves an instrument that is Non-Online Tradable with Saxo Bank. 

Under those circumstances, the procedures are as follows: 

Positions in new instruments that are 'Non-Online Tradable', assigned resulting from a Corporate Action, are booked to the client’s account. The instrument will be added to the client’s account for reporting purposes only.

Governments Bonds for United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Canada and Germany: Maturity payment for these markets are made contractually on the announced pay date as per the issuer.

Any discrepancy (debit or credit of funds) in the payment will be passed to client after the pay date if issue terms change between announcement date and pay date.

For other markets, redemption payment for government bonds are made once these have been received by Saxo.

Corporate Bonds:  Redemption payment for government bonds are made once these have been received by Saxo.

Resultant entitlements which are paid as interest will be allocated on actual basis upon receipt from agent for the eligible holding as per record date. Such distributions will not be made in cash.

Clients holding stock as of Record date will be given the opportunity to subscribe for new shares. The offer to purchase new shares is not transferable.

Priority offers are announced with one of the possibilities to subscribe as per below:

Ratio – Clients can subscribe as per the ratio

Parcels announced with options to subscribe for worth of shares – subscribe for one of the options available.

Parcels announced with options to subscribe for number of shares - subscribe for one of the options available on portal

Minimum and/or multiple and/or maximum number of shares – Use remark section of the event to mention the number of shares you wish to subscribe as per the terms of event. In case of missing information, a minimum number of shares to subscribe will be applied as per notification.

Minimum and/or multiple and/or maximum worth of shares - Use remark section of the event to mention the worth of shares you wish to subscribe as per the terms of event. In case of missing information, a minimum worth of shares to subscribe will be applied as per notification.

Subscription costs will be debited from client's accounts on deadline date. In the event of insufficient cash balance, client instructions will be rejected accordingly without prior notification, without liability for loss.

Special and infrequent Corporate Actions may occur within the corporate actions handling process. Saxo Bank will handle such Corporate Actions in the best interest of clients to the extent that time and operational process permits.

Taxes and fees may also occur on corporate actions other than cash dividends, such as fee on a stock dividend or tax on a merger. When such taxes and fees occur Saxo Bank will pass to the clients’ account, as soon as received from agent.

Clients will have the possibility to tender. Please note that any holdings elected to tender will be debited on the instructions deadline date and will be booked to a dummy security. The tender entitlement will be booked upon receipt from the agent.

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All trading carries risk. Read more. To help you understand the risks involved we have put together a series of Key Information Documents (KIDs) highlighting the risks and rewards related to each product. Read more

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