COPENHAGEN, June 7 (Reuters) - Online forex brokerage Saxo Bank will raise the amount customers have to deposit with them to account for increased risk around the Brexit vote, the bank wrote in an email to clients seen by Reuters.
Copenhagen-based Saxo Bank told clients to set aside seven percent of their leveraged pound accounts compared with two percent previously.
The bank in May warned its clients about possible higher margin related to the June 23 referendum, as it expects it has the potential for creating sharp movements, including huge price gaps in currency pairs and periods when liquidity will be in short supply in the market.
Saxo Bank, whose rivals include FXCM Inc, Interactive Brokers Group Inc and Monex Group, is among the global top 10 in retail forex trading.
The bank, which traded $10.5 billion worth of currencies daily in 2015, said it raises margin rates in clients' best interests and aims to protect them against any potential high volatility, rapid price movements or gapping that may occur in the market during the lead up to this event.
Saxo Bank lost as much as $107 million due to customers losses related to the Swiss central bank's decision to abandon an exchange rate cap on the franc last year.
"Additional increase or restrictions affecting these markets, or others, may follow," it said in the email.
(Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)