After 3 days of searching for a Forex Broker who is…
…I’ve come up with a BIG FAT ZERO.
So, Hark! Pray tell…Does anyone know of such an animal?
Thank you!!
One thing to note about reading broker reviews online is 95% of it is complete and utter BS from newbie traders who has no idea how the forex market works and immediately accuse the broker of cheating if they get a bit of slippage in an order.
To answer your questions you could go with either FXCM or MB Trading based on those requirements.
Once you get above 10k you can go with Interactive Brokers.
[QUOTE=“chas90210;679243”]After 3 days of searching for a Forex Broker who is… 1. An ECN Broker that is FSA regulated. (I do not want to deal with an unregulated Broker) [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=“rindoan;679248”] One thing to note about reading broker reviews online is 95% of it is complete and utter BS from newbie traders who has no idea how the forex market works and immediately accuse the broker of cheating if they get a bit of slippage in an order. To answer your questions you could go with either FXCM or MB Trading based on those requirements. Once you get above 10k you can go with Interactive Brokers.[/QUOTE]
FXCM is not an ECN broker, it is a STP broker.
That is just semantics.
For all intend and purposes ECN and STP is the same thing.
Both will pass on on their quotes directly without any interference from the broker himself and he makes money off the commissions.
In both cases the broker wants the client to make money as that means they keep on trading and will most likely trade in larger volumes going forward.
Both differ from trading with a market maker broker who makes money when you lose by taking the opposite side of the trade as they do not pass on your trades but take on the risk themselves.
The SNB loss to FXCM makes it pretty clear that they are indeed passing on the trades and not market making or they would not have lost 200+m and instead made money (like forex.com).
Usually people claim you can get better spreads with ECN over STP but that is very depending on the specific broker and his liquidity providers.
Its not simply semantics, they are different types of brokers. Can you get depth of market data from a STP broker…? Nope. And yes ECNs do typically have more competitive spreads. The difference between the two is that ECN brokers can match your order with other clients… When that happens there is zero spread cost… That’s why ECNs will generally have better spreads.
FXCM isn’t an ECN broker.
I am quite sure that given his question that the difference between STP and ECN is not important to the op but instead just wants to make sure his broker is not a MM.
Please mention some ECN brokers that have superior spreads to STP brokers for comparison.
[QUOTE=“rindoan;679283”] I am quite sure that given his question that the difference between STP and ECN is not important to the op but instead just wants to make sure his broker is not a MM. [/QUOTE] Lol I’m not concerned about interpreting what he wants… Just stating that FXCM isn’t an ECN broker which he specifically asked for.
[QUOTE=“rindoan;679283”] Please mention some ECN brokers that have superior spreads to STP brokers for comparison.[/QUOTE] I’m only going to bother doing a quick google search to humor you… But here is an ECN with spreads as low as 0.0 pips… This is going to be a transaction where a clients order is matched with another clients order… Which an STP cannot do. For the orders that cannot be matched by another client then the spreads would be the same as a STP
If you look at their own website they are saying ECN and STP is the same thing both giving direct access to the liquidity providers.
ECN is not only an acronym for “Electronic Communications Network”. ECN also shortens all paths between the forex traders in the world! It establishes a connection of buyers and sellers of assets and therefore allows to trade directly, without intermediaries.
STP stands for the three significant words “Straight Through Processing” and thus also means a concept of direct access to the online forex trading market.
[QUOTE=“rindoan;679288”] If you look at their own website they are saying ECN and STP is the same thing both giving direct access to the liquidity providers. [/QUOTE]
No where do they say they are the same thing.
They say they both connect clients to the interbank market… But ECNs also connects other clients orders… STPs cannot. That key difference is why ECNs have more competitive spreads.
Can you show me a STP that offers zero spreads?
Interactive Brokers for example can also connect with other clients orders.
As I said before for all intend and purposes in answering the op’s question an STP and ECN broker is the same.
Further there is not set is stone definition for what is an STP broker and what is an ECN broker it is all up to how any given broker choose to define themselves.
You are linking to a random blogger and a forex broker’s.
I don’t see how that either disproves or answers my previous post.
For either STP and ECN the spreads will usually depend on the liquidity providers so you could technically have better spreads with an STP broker if he had better market connections.
I think you are getting to stuck on trying to define the terms instead of looking at what really matters which is the spreads and commissions.
[QUOTE=“rindoan;679295”]You are linking to a random blogger and a forex broker’s. I don’t see how that either disproves or answers my previous post. For either STP and ECN the spreads will usually depend on the liquidity providers so you could technically have better spreads with an STP broker if he had better market connections. I think you are getting to stuck on trying to define the terms instead of looking at what really matters which is the spreads and commissions.[/QUOTE] Yes, the one link is a representative from FXCM clearly stating FXCM is not an ECN broker but rather an STP broker… The other link is clearly stating general market knowledge regarding the difference that exists between a broker being an STP and an ECN.
If you want to debate and say the FXCM representative doesn’t know what he is talking about and that FXCM is a ECN broker then that would be an “interesting” choice. Otherwise, FXCM isn’t an ECN broker which is what the poster asked for… Lol
I’ll ask again if you can show me an STP broker that offers zero spreads to match the zero spreads the ECN is offering that I showed you…?
Again you are hanging on to this notion that there is a huge difference between an STP and ECN broker.
My point is that each broker can use different terms to describe the same thing or can come up with terms on their own for that matter.
Take a look at how IC Markets describe their ‘True ECN’ ECN Forex Brokers | True ECN Trading | Icmarkets |.
To me this is exactly the same as you would call an STP broker.
[QUOTE=“rindoan;679303”]Again you are hanging on to this notion that there is a huge difference between an STP and ECN broker.[/QUOTE] So your position is that there is no difference whatsoever and a broker can label themselves either as an STP or as an ECN however they please?
I am saying brokers can choose their own definition of the term they want to use themselves.
Both ECN and STP brokers will pass on clients trade to the Interbank market so what really matters is the liquidity providers and their relationship with the broker as this determines the spread. Comissions also play a factor when choosing, not just the spreads.
[QUOTE=“rindoan;679309”] I am saying brokers can choose their own definition of the term they want to use themselves. Both ECN and STP brokers will pass on clients trade to the Interbank market so what really matters is the liquidity providers and their relationship with the broker as this determines the spread. Comissions also play a factor when choosing, not just the spreads.[/QUOTE] Well we will agree to disagree. No point in debating further when I’ve showed a link from FXCM which states they are not an ECN but an STP… A link clearly describing the difference between the two… And a ECN broker that offers zero spread, which you can’t provide an STP broker that can match that, which lends credence to the idea ECNs provide lower spreads.
Its almost as if you are deliberately not reading what I am writing but oh well.
Thank you. I didn’t even think about the fact that some reviews could be from ‘newbies’ not fully understanding & taking it out on brokers. So that indeed was very useful. So far MB Trading was all I came up with (until I had read some reviews about them) which now I can re-evaluate. Forex Broker Inc., is an ECN but unregulated. Would you (or anybody listening) go with an unregulated broker? I’ve read not to. I am very grateful to have found this website and very much appreciate the time you and others took to answer my initial question. 