How to identify a true ECN(+STP) broker? how to identify its true business model and they play fairly?

@jackrayden@campione… More than likely the reality of retail Forex…

Notice how updates on both Metatrader and Ctrader are fully automated?.. You don’t get to choose… Your still thinking that these trades are being processed together. There are no other real traders involved. No institutions. Just you and the game platform being run by the RFED. Everyone you think your trading against are fabricated by the gaming program.

The price is put in the platform – yes - but the program creates the movement that causes you to lose. In the trading agreement you sign it says you agree to them adjusting the price, the volume your able to trade and the spread- even after a trade has been completed!
They are in control of the prices they tell you - what they upload is used as a guide which their own charts movement uses as a reference - It’s programmed to stay within a certain distance of the feeds movement - fluctuating within that range as needed to get the task of making you hit your margin.

And the number one reason a Scalper can never beat the MM (Counterparty) Brokerages…

1 Like

Hiya @Trendswithbenefits

I personally think depends on the broker platform that get the liquidity and pass it to metatrader, metatrader can be in spot forex or in a MM closed deadend that you will lose everything most probably soon. So it’s the broker that can define your trades can leave the platform of metatrader or not. I personally think that is possible for both scenarios.

And question is, how to spot a real ECN/STP from a MM broker with certain amount of accuracy. There are lots of topics discussed on the net and I read some and I personally couldn’t figure out a formula that if you ask certain question and get certain answer, you can spot that broker is a true ECN/STP.

(I’m typing by mobile device and spelling error can happen :wink: )

@campione

Here is a Link to a simple Finance Magnates (Part 1) - (Part 2) explaination of what market maker STP and ECN brokers really are…

Don’t forget to read the comments below the article, will give you an indication just how pervasive some of the retail FX myths are…

See the video below with another demonstration and debunking of some BS out there…

Note: Take no notice of the list of Brokers shown at the end of this video…DYOR…

Take a look at some of the other videos on YouTube on this subject…

Eye Opening for the Uninitiated…

1 Like

Hiya @Trendswithbenefits

Thnx! I read part2, and as I heard before, it’s again persisted on if you see the Depth of market, then it’s ECN. But I wanted to say, it could be ECN only, not definitely. As MT5 providing DoM, then with every broker that you see the DoM, the itsECN? (Based on article outcome in part2 ). I wanted to say, it could be only. Not?

Thnx

Hiya @Trendswithbenefits

In article part2 indicated that, Uk brokers are true and fair, but I have doubt about it. I didn’t know any reputable Bank in UK who offering FX trading itself. I just heard about one but I couldn’t get access to their platform and registration yet. Actually I don’t know if they are offering it as a bank of it’s just a brokers platform that bank trying to sell it by it’s reputation. Anyone knows accurate info?

Thnx

Look up "Fake News" and Website advertisements and you’ll understand what I mean by Pervasive….

See video a few posts above…

1 Like

Hiya @Trendswithbenefits

Video was good and guy spoke well, but I didn’t like any of brokers in the suggestion list. It’s little strange why a knowledgeable guy like him, just put some of worst market brokers in his suggestion list.

You can determine this by the following steps:

  1. Asking reliable brokers how they execute orders. They will probably give you an answer, whether they pass orders directly to LP (STP) or use aggregate LP feed which matches your order with LP offering best execution price.

  2. Watch (or read) how broker performs during news. Volatility is a traders enemy (in some sense) since it leads to widening spreads on LP which try to protect themselves from being on the wrong side. Also your orders can be executed with slippage since servers become overloaded during news because of sharp increase of orders sent from other traders. If you see or read about price spikes, platform freezes probably their servers are weak and their pick of liquidity providers is not very efficient. For STP broker who focuses only on one LP this can generate even more problems since the broker doesn’t “diversify” its feed.

Hope it helps. Thanks.

1 Like

In most cases, when trading with a broker that offers variable spreads and operates under STP/DMA model, the spreads tend to widen quite a bit during news releases compared to normal trading conditions. On the same note, when trading with a fixed spread broker (e.g. Market maker), the brokers usually don’t allow trading on news events, for obvious reasons. A trader therefore has to find the right broker that offers variable spreads, allows news trading while ensuring the spreads are not too wide during major news events.
If it was so easy to trick the market everyone would have been a millionaire already lol :smiley: Simply place Stop or Limit order right before the news and wait for the movement. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way so IMO there are 3 options when it comes to trading during news:

  1. Stay away
  2. Place an order without SL/TP and make sure that you have enough money so that the widened spread doesn’t trigger automated stop out (if there is any). When the market gets quite again (let’s max 5 min after the news) spread should be back to normal so you can set your SL/TP if your order still persists.
  3. Place an order and with wider SL/TP levels and hope that the spread doesn’t get too wide to trigger those levels.

I personally prefer option 1 :wink: because there are a lot of “IF”s in the other two. Additionally slippage tend to occur more often during news.

However it depends on your risk orientation

3 Likes

News triggers are the most powerful ones, they offer clear cut notion of why the price moved particularly at this moment, a kind of outlier from the set of “random” price movements and great uncertainty. That’s why news trading remains pretty attractive despite controversy over execution during this time

1 Like

The easiest way to see if your broker is really an STP is to ask for a post trade transparency report.
In it you can see the execution times, bridge, prime broker and LP that participated in your order execution.
If the broker you’re using refuses to provide such a report you can be sure there is something fishy going on.

1 Like

Revealing providers can be harmful for brokers, because it’s a part of their business, I mean picking right combination is what every brokers struggles for and making this sensitive information public can lead to losing competitive edge

thanks. I will ask. do u know any ECN broker that provide this?

thnx

I do. However, I’ve mentioned it before that I got offered a job with that broker after the member spotlight interview (and took the offer). So, it will be a COI (conflict of interest) and can be considered advertising - that is why I will not mention it.
Anyhow, i’ve talked to the colleagues and they said that most brokers (which are not Market Makers) should be able to provide such reports upon request.
They just don’t advertise it, because it’s a pain for the brokerage department and server admins to collect all the data from the bridge and liquidity providers.

1 Like
  1. Congratulation for your success in your goals. Shall I email them and ask them to email me just these: ‘trade transparency report;
    with the execution times, bridge, prime broker and LP that participated in order execution.’ or shall I add another thing to query? The only way to realize this is with a small real account and ask this report monthly from broker?

  2. I asked a broker who claimed to be true ECN, they only offering 1:30 leverage in max, while there is true ECN brokers that offering from 1:100~1:400 mostly, its looks kinda strange for me. Also their price chart in their different type of of accounts, that are claimed to be different variation of ECN is different. I don’t understand this and its looks strange. ?

  3. Based on this file Notice of ESMA’s Product Intervention Decisions in relation to contracts for differences and binary options (241.4 KB) how the leverage could be that amounts? This speaks different than what I actually see in the market with the most brokers ECN accounts, while most of them that I tried are EU based ones but their leverage doesn’t match with this rules. ?

  4. Could you write a guideline as a fellow member on how to spot a true ECN broker and what questions and condition shall I check if there is somethings other than what mentioned on query-#1 ?

thnx

  1. Thanks.
    The post-trade transparency report is used for a single trade, not for bulk/monthly reporting. Meaning you’ve made a trade on 20.09 and you saw a spike that was unnatural resulting in your order being stopped out due to margin or SL levels hit. Then you write to the support and ask for such a report for that trade. So, that you can see where was the issue.
  2. It’s all about the location/regulation of the broker. Brokers regulated with different regulators can offer different leverages.
  3. Every broker regardless of order execution model can offer higher leverages (for clients outside of the EU) if they have an office/branch/subsidiary registered with an “authority” outside of the EU (for example - Vanuatu), which means that the EU clients will get the leverage cap of x30 but the non-EU traders can register with the broker’s non-EU branch and still receive the higher leverage.
  4. Perhaps it would be easier to spot MM/DD broker traits.
    I’ve started a thread about it - [List]How to spot Dealing Desk brokers (Market Makers)
    This article might help as well - The 4 Types of Forex Brokers - Explained – The Pip Farmer – Medium

Remember - All scam brokers are Market Makers/Dealing Desks, but not all Market Makers/Dealing Desk brokers are scams!
It’s kinda the same thing like with scotch, cognac and champagne:

  • All scotches are whisky, but not all whiskys are scotch.
  • All cognac is brandy, but not all brandys are cognac.
  • All champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wines are champagne.
1 Like

[quote=“bradley79, post:28, topic:106981”]
which means that the EU clients will get the leverage cap of x30
[/quote] does this was an example calculation or confirmation of the EU residents leverage with ECN broker registered/regulated in EEA is 30% in max?

do u know by chance for opening a broker platform, how much lowest charging local financial authority can ask for deposit? or how much it costs? I don’t mean becoming a subsidiary of another broker, I mean building your own marketplace for executing your orders? building something that can cover executing u and your close friends orders only?

thnx

I have no idea. But from what I’ve heard it’s a huge legal pain. Because you have to be registered as a brokerage service provider (get a licence) which is not cheap, on top of that you must have a huge amount to be able to cover the liquidity needed… I have a vague memory of numbers in the ball park of 250,000 (for the MM/DD licence alone) and 20 to 50 million euros of equity being quoted. Again, not sure about the numbers and you can be sure they (the numbers) will vary vastly depending on the country. Also, the legal hurdles alone and the amounts you’ll have to spend on legal consult are just not something an ordinary Joe like me can afford.
My guess is that on locations like Vanuatu, Mauritius, St Vincent and The Grenadines it would be far cheaper than let’s say Cyprus (keep in mind that they are a part of the EU now and all EU laws&regulations apply). You’ll still need to keep a legal team at hand at all times which is expensive.
So, yeah.

1 Like

check they have business partner or not

You can do a few things like check if the broker is regulated and research about the platforms, accounts and services it is offering. You can also read reviews and try a demo with them. That is how I usually go about it and I found some reliable brokers too. I’m using IG, XM and Fxview. The trading conditions suit me and the spreads are tight with these. I tried their demos before starting with live accounts.