Forex trading is an attractive business that is popular not only with retail traders and brokers, but also with major banks that are starting to offer trading services to retail clients.。

Today, the retail foreign exchange market has undergone significant changes in the form of increased regulation, which came after increased market competition。

On the one hand, strict regulation has forced many small brokerages to close because their business models are no longer profitable; on the other hand, the unexpected beneficiaries of these developments are established commercial banks, which have seized mature opportunities to expand their range of financial products.。Replacing smaller brokers squeezed out of competition are commercial banks that can capture market share, but in much smaller numbers。

Here are five major banks that have opened up retail foreign exchange trading services to customers:

1. ADS Securities
2. Santander Bank
3. Societe Generale
4. Barclays Bank
5. Saxo Bank

Each bank has different approaches and advantages, learn everything about it below。

1. ADS Securities

Major capital markets and investment banks in the Middle East offer foreign exchange, bullion and CFD trading under a subsidiary of ADS Prime, a brand that offers retail trading services with multiple liquidity providers.。

ADS Prime aims to reach a wider audience using the widely popular MT4 platform (also accessible from mobile phones)。The leverage offered is up to 400: 1 and the trading conditions allow clients interested in automated trading to develop their own trading robots (EA).。

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ADSS is a legitimate Forex and CFD broker as it is regulated by 3 countries: Ministry of Economic Development (Dubai) 1190047, FCA (UK) 577453 and SFC (Hong Kong) AXC847。Choosing a broker that is regulated by a reputable regulator is crucial as its regulated status helps ensure the trust and competence of the firm。

ADSS was founded in Abu Dhabi in 2011 and is the leading international broker in the UAE region。As one of the world's largest and most respected online brokers, ADSS accepts clients from all regions and accepts trading accounts in multiple currencies.。

The various awards ADSS has received are a testament to the company's reputation and reliability.。Last year, ADSS won 3 major categories in the 2021 Global Forex Awards, namely Best Forex Trading Innovation - Global, Best Forex Trading Platform - Middle East and Trusted Forex Broker - Middle East.。

ADSS provides its customers with a high-quality trading platform MetaTrader 4, which is very popular among traders. The platform can provide customers with one-click trading solutions and includes customization of in-depth market analysis。

In addition, ADSS offers only three types of real accounts, making trading easier: spread betting, standard and ECN.。All three accounts can be opened by depositing $200 using multiple payment methods (including credit card, wire transfer, Skrill, debit card, etc.)。

In terms of trading tools, ADSS is one of the best as it offers its clients a wide range of financial assets, including 61 forex pairs, nine commodities, 28 indices, four bonds, four cryptocurrencies and hundreds of stock CFDs, including shares of Saudi Arabian companies.。

However, ADSS does not offer any bonuses to its traders.。However, clients can participate in partner programs such as referring friends, introducing brokers and fund managers。

ADSS also provides multilingual support to customers 24 hours a day, 5 days a week via live chat, email or a global telephone hotline。

2.Santander Bank

Santander provides distribution and market-making activities for large and medium-sized corporate and institutional private clients.。Santander has more than 125,000 foreign exchange clients, including 30,000 SMEs。Its retail customers make about a million transactions a year, mostly denominated in pounds sterling and dollars.。

Santander can assist customers in branches, and the bank's forex brokers provide expert management services through simple and comprehensive digital solutions to meet the needs of customers。About 64% of customers are digital, and the number of customers accessing the banking app has reached 5 million.。

In addition, Santander serves core geographical areas in Europe and Latin America, with the bank offering up to 200 specialized G10 and Latin American currency pairs.。The bank has a wide range of products in spot, foreign exchange swaps, forwards and options.。

3.Societe Generale

Societe Generale offers foreign exchange trading with comprehensive global coverage and multi-currency foreign exchange spot, futures, forward, options and swap trading capabilities, as well as low spreads.。The company has a strong European franchise with a focus on emerging markets.。

In Western Europe, the company has a lot of influence and is the top 10 company in the G10 currency。In addition, the company offers a variety of global emerging currencies, such as 5 Central and Eastern European currencies.。

4.Barclays Bank

Barclays, which has an international banking infrastructure to offer forex services that allow customers to trade up to 60 currency pairs, is considering further retail forex trading。

Barclays is the leading bank in the foreign exchange market in terms of market share, according to Greenwich Associates, an independent research firm。The company's share of the global foreign exchange market is 10.5%, followed by Deutsche Bank and Citibank, with shares of 9.8% and 9.3%。

5.Saxo Bank

Saxo Bank has licenses in 6 first-level jurisdictions, which shows its advantages as a safe broker for CFDs and foreign exchange transactions. Its customers can trade spot, forward and options in more than 100 currency pairs.。To protect customers from volatility, the company has a platform that can be triggered in the opposite direction of the spread。

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Saxo Bank was founded in Denmark in 1992 as a brokerage firm。Currently, they have infiltrated their online banking and foreign exchange trading businesses internationally, and the company is hailed as one of the best in the industry.。

Saxo Bank's innovative platform is used by Microsoft's global institutions, Barclays Stockbrokers Ltd and TD Waterhouse。These platforms include the award-winning trading platform SaxoTraderGO and are offered as Saxo Bank's flagship product.。The other two platforms are SaxoTraderPRO and SaxoInvestors, each with its advantages and features。

SaxoTraderPRO Suitable for advanced traders and institutional clients, trading faster by quickly turning off all functions and viewing trading order books and execution reports in real time; on the other hand, Saxo TraderGO is a platform for retail traders, which can be easily managed through a single account Portfolio。For example, traders can get real-time and historical reports of net positions。

As for Saxo Trader, it is a user-friendly case product platform tailored for retail investors. There are several advantages, including browsing curated themes and pre-made screenings。In addition, clients can choose a diversified portfolio。It is a responsive platform accessible from any device。

Saxo Bank website to meet the needs of international customers, Saxo Bank website available in dozens of languages。In addition to English, there are Japanese, Mandarin, French, Italian, Indonesian and so on。

When customers choose Saxo Bank, they choose to deal with a fully regulated industry leader that complies with strict regulatory requirements in 15 financial centers around the world, including the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and Denmark.。

Another advantage is that there are many options for the instruments that traders can trade on Saxo Bank, covering 40,000 instruments in 184 forex pairs, 9,000 CFDs, 19,000 shares, 200 stock options, 2,500 ETFs, futures, gold, silver and more.。

Since the company also acts as a bank, Saxo Bank's execution speed can be guaranteed。However, some traders may feel that Saxo Bank is not suitable for individual trading because the minimum capital is too large and spreads and commissions are a burden for many customers.。The spread charged by Saxo Bank for each pair is quite large, so it is not suitable for scalpers; at the same time, commissions start at $1。

In addition, Saxo Bank often stops trading for a few seconds before important news releases and does not reactivate until after the news release, which leaves message traders with no best chance of taking action at Saxo Bank.。

In fact, the deposit amount can be adjusted according to the account level chosen by the customer。Saxo Bank accounts are divided into three levels, including Classic (minimum funding of £500), Platinum (minimum funding of £50,000) and VIP (minimum funding of £1,000,000)。Customers can use 1: 200 leverage with a minimum of 0 lots.05。

Saxo Bank provides traders with various tools. Each account level has its own facilities, which can be adjusted according to the needs of traders. The higher the level, the more complete the facilities provided。

For example, a trader with a VIP account will get a personal relationship manager and 24-hour direct access to a trading expert.。These facilities cannot be found when traders choose classic and platinum accounts。

For corporate customers, Saxo Bank offers 40,000 tools with 1: 1 support from expert account managers and security from their more than 25 years of experience。

If customers meet professional standards, they can join Saxo Bank's professional account。The criteria discussed include having a financial portfolio of more than approximately €500,000, having conducted at least 20 large-scale related transactions in the past four quarters, and having worked in the financial sector for at least one year.。

In addition, Saxo Bank has more than 100 institutional experts in its offices in major financial centres such as Denmark, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Dubai, where customers can choose the location closest to their region.。With this support, Saxo Bank is optimistic about providing the right solution for its customers "business。

From the above explanation, it can be concluded that Saxo Bank is more suitable for those with strong financial resources who are interested in foreign exchange trading as a portfolio.。The broker's business focus is also more oriented towards institutional clients rather than retail clients.。

What are the benefits for investment banks?？

Greenwich Associates, an independent research firm, said retail trading in foreign exchange was an attractive business as increasingly onerous capital reserve requirements reduced profit margins in investment banking and capital markets businesses.。As a result, the opportunity attracted investment banks to build their own retail product platforms.。

In the 21st century, the banking industry faces many challenges。It has forced banks to start looking beyond established horizons, with a combination of online services, non-bank financial applications and low interest rates forcing banks to cut fees while margins fall.。

The solution many established banks have found is to move into neighbouring industries, in many cases requiring a move into retail forex trading。With financial accounts already in place that use almost the same infrastructure, the cross-bank is a logical move。They can earn income through deposit commissions while providing existing customers with higher returns than traditional savings accounts。

Similar to retail trading at major banks, these Forex brokers offer sophisticated trading conditions and specifications to experienced traders.。If you are looking for the perfect trading environment without any restrictions, click on the list of Forex brokers suitable for professional traders。