Saxo Bank has entered into an agreement to buy E*Trade International’s local Nordic online trading business and online bank from E*Trade Nordic AB; this is an indirect subsidiary of US-based E*Trade Financial. The Nordic business includes client accounts in Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and Norway.
Saxo says the acquisition of one of Scandinavia’s established online bank and brokerages is part of its ongoing strategy of offering more saving and investment products to its clients. As a result of the deal, Saxo will be able to offer pension products as well as stock and margin accounts, bond offerings and, later, a funds supermarket. The agreement also boosts Saxo’s assets under management and number of clients.
“This acquisition supports our long-term expansion strategy and broadens our product offering on the SaxoTrader platform. In addition, the expanded client base will enable us to further improve our services to both existing and new clients through improved efficiency and scale,” said Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, Saxo’s joint chief executives.