Zornitsa Stefanova
Zornitsa Stefanova is a Financial Research and Platform Testing Analyst at BestBrokers.com, specialising in hands-on reviews of forex, cryptocurrency and stock trading platforms. She evaluates brokerage companies from a user-focused perspective, testing key areas such as account setup, trading conditions, platform usability, available markets and overall reliability.
| Expert Editor 
Matthew Levy, CFA
Matthew Levy, CFA, is a Senior Research Analyst at BestBrokers.com with experience in financial services, securities analysis, portfolio management, and trading. His work supports the broker testing process through detailed research, clear financial analysis, and a strong understanding of what traders and investors expect from reliable online trading platforms. 
| Updated: If you are looking to trade forex and other financial instruments at interbank rates, you can review our shortlist of the leading brokers that process orders without dealing desk intervention. The selected brokers offer account types in which they do not act as counterparties to client trades, instead working with reliable liquidity providers to deliver narrower spreads, faster order execution, and greater price transparency. We also elaborate on the benefits of using their services and provide guidance on how to identify reliable no-dealing-desk (NDD) brokers.
Plus500 USThis content applies only to Plus500 US and clients from the United States. Trading futures involves the risk of loss.
eToro52% of retail investor accounts lose money
Fusion Markets74-89% of retail's CFD accounts lose money
BlackBull MarketsTrading leveraged products is risky
Eightcap59.57% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Global Prime74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Pepperstone73.7% of retail investor accounts lose money
FxPro74% of retail investor accounts lose money
VantageTrading leveraged products is risky
FBS72.12% of retail investor accounts lose money
IC Markets70.64% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.Comprehensive Comparison of the Top 11 No-Dealing-Desk Forex Brokers
| Forex Broker | Demo account available? | Min Deposit | Trading Platforms | Regulators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Fusion Markets | No | $0 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DupliTrade, Fusion+ Copy Trading, TradingView | ASIC, FSA (Seychelles), VFSC (Vanuatu) |
| 2. Pepperstone | No | $0 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView | ASIC (No. 414530), UK FCA (No. 684312), CySEC (No. 388/20), BaFin (No. 151148), DFSA (F004356), CMA (128), SCB Bahamas (SIA-F217), FSA (SD108) |
| 3. FxPro | No | $0 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, FxPro Edge (proprietary) | FCA (No. 509956), CySEC (No. 078/07), FSCA (No. 45052), SCB (No. SIA-F184), FSA (No. SD120) |
| 4. Global Prime | No | $0 | MT4, MT4 WebTrader, MT4 Android, MT4 iOS; for VFSC clients: MT4, MT5 (Desktop, WebTrader, Mobile), and GP Copy | ASIC (No. 385620), VFSC (No. 40256) |
| 5. IC Markets | Yes | $200 | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, ZuluTrade | FSA (Seychelles), CySEC (Cyprus), ASIC (Australia), SCB (Bahamas), CMA (Kenya) |
| 6. BlackBull Markets | No | $0 (Standard)$0 (Prime)$20,000 (Institutional) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, cTrader, MT WebTrader, BlackBull Shares, BlackBull CopyTrader, BlackBull Trade, BlackBull Invest, ZuluTrade | FSA (Seychelles, No. SD045), FMA (No. FSP403326) |
| 7. Vantage | No | $50 ($10,000 for Pro ECN accounts) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, ProTrader, TradingView, Copy Trading | FCA (FRN: 590299), VFSC (reg. no. 700271), ASIC (license no. 428901), FSCA (license no. 51268), CIMA (license no. 1383491) |
| 8. Plus500 | No | $10 | Proprietary desktop and mobile platforms | FSA (No.4.1-1/18), FCA (No. FRN 509909), CySEC (No.250/14), FMA (No.47546), SFSA (No. SD039), MAS (No. CMS100648), DFSA (No. F005651), ASIC (No. 417727), BaFin registration, SCB (SIA-F250) |
| 9. Saxo Bank | Yes | $0 Classic$200,000 + Platinum $1,000,000 + VIP | Proprietary, SaxoTraderGO, SaxoTraderPRO, TradingView, SaxoInvestor | FCA (No. 551422), FSA Denmark (No. 1149), MAS (No. 200601141M), ASIC (No. 32110128286), SFC Hong Kong (No. 1395901), FSA Japan (No. 0104-01-082810), Registered with CONSOB (no. 296) |
| 10. FBS | Yes | Standard accounts: $100 Cent accounts: $10 | MT5 Desktop, MT5 WebTrader, MT4 | CySEC (No. 331/17), FSC (No. 000102/31), ASIC (No. 426359), FSCA (no. 50885) |
| 11. FP Markets | No | $50 (AU$100) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, WebTrader, IRESS, cTrader, TradingView | ASIC, CySEC, FSA (Seychelles), FSCA, FSA (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), SCB (Bahamas), FSC (Mauritius) |
Top Brokers with NDD Order Processing
Fusion Markets’ model is based on an Electronic Communication Network (ECN) structure, where the best available price for each symbol is sourced from a network of established liquidity providers. Prices are then passed directly to clients, resulting in competitive spreads from 0.0 pips (Zero Account).
Fusion Markets performed well in terms of market execution during our testing, with its execution speed matching the 37 milliseconds advertised on the broker’s website. We further confirmed that its raw spreads have no markups, meaning it offers true NDD execution. The broker also features a complimentary VPS offer, which ensures low latency and 24/7 operation. The VPS service is provided free of charge to users whose trading volume exceeds 20 lots per 30 days. We found that the 30-day requirement of 20 lots is manageable for high-volume traders. Only forex and metals trading count toward this requirement.
The broker has obtained regulatory approval from ASIC, the VFSC, and the FSA (Seychelles) and facilitates low-cost trading across over 250 financial markets, including forex (EUR/USD, AUD/USD, USD/JPY), precious metals, energies, indices, and US shares. We created a Zero Account, and trading with this account type involves a competitive round-trip commission of $4.50, which is among the lowest in the industry. Copy trading is also available via the broker’s proprietary Fusion+ platform.
Gleneagle Asset Management Limited (ABN 29 103 162 278) trading as Fusion Markets, is the issuer of the Fusion Markets Products described in this communication. Trading in Fusion Markets Products involves the potential for profit as well as the risk of loss which may vastly exceed the amount of your initial deposit and is not suitable for all investors. You should read all of these Financial Product Service Terms, the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and the Financial Services Guide (available on our website) carefully, consider your own financial situation, needs and objectives for investing in these Fusion Markets Products and obtain independent financial advice.- 2. FP Markets
As a licensed broker offering raw ECN pricing, FP Markets provides deep liquidity and transparent pricing, with order execution speeds averaging 42 ms and minimal slippage. Depending on the account type, forex spreads start from 1 pip (Standard) and 0.0 pips (Raw). Customers additionally benefit from competitive spreads for over 10,000 financial instruments, ranging from 70+ currency pairs, shares, and commodities to indices, cryptocurrencies, and bonds.
Traders can connect their raw-spread accounts at FP Markets to MT5, MT4, or cTrader. Our team was charged a $6 round-turn commission during our testing of this account type. Minimum deposits start at $50 or $100, depending on the customer’s country of onboarding.
As a no-dealing-desk broker, FP Markets sources its spreads directly from leading liquidity providers without adding any markups. The brokerage provides execution through its Equinix servers located in New York. EU-based retail customers can increase their exposure with maximum leverage of 1:30 and are safeguarded with negative balance protection. Professionals have access to leverage of 1:500.
We also examined FP Markets’ IRESS platform, which offers Direct Market Access (DMA) pricing. As 100% of DMA orders are passed directly into the live exchange, client trades have a direct impact on the liquidity of financial instruments.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.33% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. BlackBull Markets is an ECN/STP broker that offers spreads from zero pips to clients using its ECN Prime accounts. The brokerage passes on the prices it receives from external liquidity providers such as Goldman Sachs and Barclays directly to customers without any dealing desk intervention. This model enables BlackBull to deliver greater price transparency and execution of under 75 milliseconds, with no slippage observed in our tests.
At present, BlackBull Markets offers its trading services to customers in over 180 jurisdictions, and it is licensed by both the Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand and the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles. The company’s portfolio encompasses over 26,000 tradable markets, including over 50 forex pairs such as EUR/USD, EUR/JPY, and GBP/TRY, hundreds of stock CFDs, commodities, cryptocurrencies, futures, and indices.
Our team tested BlackBull Markets’ ECN Standard, ECN Prime, and Prime+ accounts on the MT5 platform. Its other CFD platforms include MT4, cTrader, and TradingView. We also found the broker to be mobile-friendly, with its iOS and Android apps featuring full account access, reliable push notifications, symbol watchlists, and more.
Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange, you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and, therefore, you should not invest money you cannot afford to lose. You should make yourself aware of all the risks associated with foreign exchange trading and seek advice from an independent financial advisor if you have any questions or concerns as to how a loss would affect your lifestyle.- 4. Pepperstone
Pepperstone has a clean regulatory track record, an extensive lineup of tradable products, and competitive spreads for major forex pairs. The broker reaches traders from over 160 jurisdictions and operates with ASIC, CySEC, CMA, and DFSA licenses.
Pepperstone provides a choice between Standard and Raw accounts, offering variable and raw spreads, respectively. The latter features spreads as low as 0.0 pips. This pricing is a result of a no-dealing-desk ECN model, with the broker relying on a large pool of liquidity providers, including tier-1 banks, major financial institutions, and other global brokerages. We found that order execution speeds average 30 milliseconds.
ECN pricing is available for over 1,400 financial instruments. This scope includes currency indices, commodities, stocks, and ETFs. Its licenses have been issued by top-tier regulators like the UK’s FCA (684312), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (414530), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (388/20), and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (F004356), to name a few.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73.7% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. - 5. FxPro
FxPro is suitable for traders who prioritize order processing speed, competitive pricing, and a wide range of markets.
The broker achieves execution speeds of under 8 ms, and spreads with the commission-based accounts drop below 1 pip and are sourced directly from tier-1 liquidity providers without dealing desk intervention. We further confirmed that customers using cTrader and MT5 have access to Depth of Market (DOM) information.
At present, FxPro serves over 17.2 million registered customers from more than 170 jurisdictions. It facilitates trading with a versatile range of 2,100+ instruments, including 70+ forex pairs such as EUR/USD, USD/CHF, and USD/CAD. Indices and shares are also available.
Trade Responsibly. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. - 6. Global Prime
Global Prime provides access to deep liquidity through ECN no-dealing-desk order execution and competitive bid and ask quotes for over 150 instruments across six asset classes, including bonds, currencies, crypto, commodities, and indices.
It routes customers’ orders to over 25 liquidity providers, including Currenex and FastMatch, ensuring direct market access, transparency, and tier-1 bank liquidity with execution speeds of 10 ms.
The broker’s ECN pricing model translates to spreads as low as 0.0 pips when trading with the commission-based account. During testing, we were charged a reasonable commission of $3.50 per lot, per side. Trading US stock CFDs with leverage of 1:20 is also available.
The broker serves its international customer base with licenses from ASIC (385620) and the VFSC (40256). Customer support is available 24/7, and other perks include fee-free account funding, the absence of inactivity fees, and negative balance protection for ASIC customers. Additionally, experienced traders can take advantage of a complimentary VPS provided they trade 20+ lots (forex, metals) per 30-day period.
Global Prime is a trading name of FMGP Trading Group Pty Ltd (ABN 74 146 086 017) and is regulated by ASIC and licensed to carry on a financial services business in Australia under Australian Financial Services License No. 385620. Gleneagle Securities Pty Limited trading as Global Prime FX, is a registered Vanuatu company (Company Number 40256) and is regulated by the VFSC. The website is owned and operated by FMGP Trading Group Pty Ltd, ABN 74 146 086 017. - 7. IC Markets
IC Markets has been in operation for over 18 years and has no proprietary order book, as it utilizes the Electronic Communication Network (ECN) pricing model. Its infrastructure connects to a broad network of 25+ liquidity providers, including major banks and financial institutions, providing clients with access to deep liquidity pools and competitive pricing from 0.0 pips (Raw account).
The firm’s service model focuses on competitive pricing and the use of trading technology designed to facilitate efficient order execution.
The setup is supported by low-latency servers located in strategic data centers like Equinix NY4 in New York and LD5 in London, combined with advanced order routing algorithms that optimize execution speed and fill rates. Additionally, IC Markets offers free VPS access to its users, although we found the eligibility requirements to vary depending on the type of VPS plan. To get access to the Standard plan, for example, you will need to trade at least 15 lots per month. The highest tier, Premium, requires a monthly trading volume of 75 lots.
IC Markets has maintained a consistent regulatory track record, and its operations are overseen by financial watchdogs such as ASIC, CySEC, the CMA, the FSA, and the SCB. The firm offers access to more than 2,850 financial instruments, including 60 forex pairs such as EUR/USD, USD/TRY, NZD/USD, and GBP/USD. Other asset classes include indices, shares, commodities, bonds, futures, and cryptocurrencies.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70.64% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. - 8. Vantage
Founded in 2009, Vantage is regulated by several authorities, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The multi-licensed broker facilitates trading with over 1,000 CFDs for currency pairs, soft and hard commodities, stocks, and indices. Experienced customers can invest in more complex instruments like bonds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Vantage utilizes ECN technology for order processing, and during our testing, we confirmed that it achieves execution speeds of 30 ms and spreads that can drop to 0.0 pips with Raw and Pro ECN accounts. The trading company sources price quotes from several tier-1 liquidity providers, such as Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Westpac, UBS, Société Générale, HSBC, and J.P. Morgan.
Examples of available currency pairs include EUR/USD, AUD/USD, and USD/JPY. Bonds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are also available to experienced customers.
- 9. FBS
Licensed by CySEC and ASIC, FBS delivers accurate real-time market prices with zero dealing desk intervention and fast execution, with 95% of market orders filled within 0.4 seconds. The broker utilizes Straight Through Processing to source prices from multiple liquidity providers, including Finalto, ensuring competitive trading conditions for its customers.
FBS offers fast order execution, with execution times starting from 10 milliseconds. New customers can choose from Standard and Cent accounts, where spreads can be as low as 0.7 pips.
During our testing, we could access over 550 markets tradable via MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4. The broker also provides negative balance protection and various fee-free deposit options, including Visa, Maestro, wire transfers, Skrill, Neteller, and more.
Customer support is available in multiple languages, and users can get in touch with an agent via live chat, phone, or email at support@fbs.com.
Risk warning: ᏟᖴᎠs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72.12% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading ᏟᖴᎠs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how ᏟᖴᎠs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. - 10. CMC Markets
Established in 1996, CMC Markets is a global broker authorized and regulated by the FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, and BaFin in Germany. The broker offers automated execution with speeds of 30 milliseconds, and its FX Active accounts feature raw spreads starting from 0.0 pips on six major forex pairs and commissions of $2.50 per side, per standard lot.
CMC Markets provides spread betting, CFDs, and options trading, although availability varies by region. Shares, currency pairs like EUR/USD and GBP/USD, cryptocurrencies, bonds, indices, options, and commodities are among the asset classes available.
In terms of platforms, our team tested the broker’s Next Generation Platform and found it to offer an intuitive interface, 100+ technical indicators, more than 70 chart patterns, tools such as the pattern recognition scanner, and more. Testing was also conducted on the MT5 platform, and other third-party platforms, such as MT4 and TradingView, are also available.
Experienced traders can take advantage of VPS hosting to benefit from reduced latency. The service is free for CMC Markets clients who trade at least 15 lots per month.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. - 11. ActivTrades
Licensed in multiple jurisdictions, including Portugal and the UK, ActivTrades serves over 100,000 traders from 170 countries worldwide. The broker’s infrastructure is capable of processing over 100,000 client orders per second.
Customers can engage in commission-free trading with spreads from 0.5 pips for over 50 currency pairs, hundreds of stocks, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. The broker has a fully automated routing system that ensures fast order execution, with average speeds of 0.004 seconds.
Approximately 93.60% of all customer orders are executed at the requested price or better. Traders can manage their risk by using advanced order types such as progressive trailing stop, immediate or cancel, and fill or kill. Clients can place orders via MT4, MT5, and the proprietary ActivTrader platform.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. - 12. Axi
Axi is a brokerage that has operated in the financial markets for over 18 years. The firm maintains authorizations from several regulatory bodies, including the FCA and ASIC. The broker provides access to over 290 financial markets, offering automated order execution with speeds under 100 milliseconds. Axi connects traders directly to its 20+ liquidity providers to ensure accurate pricing that, during our testing, reached 0.0 pips on the commission-based Pro and Elite accounts.
Its infrastructure is designed to minimize slippage and facilitate trade processing at competitive price points.
Axi provides a range of educational resources designed to assist traders in market analysis and skill development. There are no internal fees for account funding, which reduces customers’ overall costs.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. The vast majority of retail client accounts lose money when trading in CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
What Is a No Dealing Desk (NDD) Broker?
Brokerages using the no-dealing-desk (NDD) pricing model serve as intermediaries between traders and participants in the interbank market. When sourcing prices, NDD brokers rely on a network of diverse liquidity providers, usually tier-1 banks and non-bank financial institutions. The former are major global banks with vast financial resources, which contribute to market depth and tight spreads, while the latter include large hedge funds and investment firms.
Known as the order book, the Depth of Market (DOM) allows traders to see the exact supply and demand for an asset at different price levels. It is particularly relevant to NDD brokers because they provide traders with direct access to real market depth and help them understand the balance of supply and demand. Since NDD brokers connect traders to the interbank market, the DOM displayed on their platforms reflects the actual order flow from various liquidity providers. This can be crucial for making informed trading decisions.
Furthermore, this pricing model helps prevent conflicts of interest, as brokers do not profit from their clients’ losses. It also allows traders to gain direct access to the underlying markets. Prices are sourced from large pools of liquidity providers, considerably reducing the risk of slippage and requotes. Experienced and professional traders commonly prefer NDD brokers because they often deliver raw spreads, faster transactions, and better execution speeds.
These factors can reduce total trading costs, which may be an important consideration for traders prioritizing cost-efficient execution. However, this pricing model is not without its drawbacks. While raw spreads may offer narrower price gaps, they are typically accompanied by fixed commissions per trade.
How Do NDD Brokers Compare to Market Makers?
NDD brokers generally offer greater price transparency because they provide traders with direct access to interbank market prices. Such brokerages process orders without dealing desk intervention. By contrast, market makers operate in-house dealing desks and provide their own quotes, profiting from the difference between the bid and ask prices.
Dealing-desk brokers are said to “create” markets for their customers, hence the name “market makers.” They sometimes trade against their clients, which can result in a conflict of interest. Brokerages using this model typically offer fixed rather than floating spreads.
When a trader places a buy order with a market maker, the broker will first attempt to find a matching sell order from another client in its trading book. If it fails to locate a matching order, the market maker resorts to taking the opposite side of the client’s order. Such brokerages largely manage orders internally rather than sourcing prices directly from external liquidity providers.
Types of NDD Brokers
There are two main types of NDD brokers. The first is the straight-through processing (STP) execution model. STP brokers serve as intermediaries in transactions with their customers. Client orders are routed to the STP broker’s servers before being passed on to a counterparty.
Interbank market participants, market makers, and other STP brokers can all act as counterparties in this case. There are no requotes or dealing desk intervention during this process. Execution speeds, while fast, usually vary based on the route each order takes. STP brokers generate profits by charging commissions and adding nominal markups to their spreads.
The second subcategory of NDD brokers is companies using the electronic communication network (ECN) model. With ECN brokers, client orders go directly to the central interbank market. This allows brokers to fill orders at the best possible interbank prices without dealer intervention, with execution times reduced to milliseconds. ECN brokers largely profit from commissions and always offer variable spreads.
While both STP and ECN brokers pass orders to the interbank market, the latter do not necessarily connect orders directly to liquidity providers. Instead, ECN brokers can route orders to other participants in the interbank market, and these counterparties are often major brokers. Considering the two order processing models, ECN brokers can be classified as STP brokers, but not all STP brokers are ECN brokers.
How to Identify Reliable NDD Brokers
When looking for reliable NDD brokers, licensing and regulation are the first things you should check. Brokerage firms regulated by stringent financial watchdogs like the FCA, ASIC, and CySEC uphold high standards of price transparency, security, and client protection.
They may also adhere to strict fund segregation policies, restrict leverage for retail customers, and offer negative balance protection for retail traders with margin accounts. Trading with a regulated broker also gives you potential legal recourse if something goes wrong.
You should also check the commissions and other related costs charged by your broker of interest. The best NDD brokers on the market charge lower round-trip commissions than their competitors and add only small markups, if any, to their spreads.
Consider brokers with no account funding, overnight, or inactivity fees, as this can reduce your overall trading expenses. Available account types and minimum trade sizes also merit consideration. Novices and small-scale traders should look for NDD brokerages offering micro or cent accounts that facilitate trading with fractions of a standard lot.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Trading with NDD Brokers
Trading with NDD brokers has both pros and cons. Direct market access and lower trading costs, typically through commission-based pricing, are the main positives. Using NDD brokers can lead to faster execution speeds, as they typically automate order processing without manual intervention. This technical structure is designed to reduce latency, which can minimize discrepancies between the quoted price and the final execution price. Traders can benefit from deep liquidity as prices are sourced from large pools of liquidity providers. Price manipulation and potential conflicts of interest are less of a concern when trading without dealing desk intervention.
Additionally, NDD brokers tend to offer greater transparency by showing real market prices aggregated from multiple liquidity providers without requotes or markups. In turn, this often leads to fairer pricing during volatile market conditions. Many NDD brokers also provide access to advanced trading platforms and tools suitable for professional and algorithmic traders.
Variable spreads are perhaps the biggest downside of dealing with NDD brokers, as it can be difficult to know exactly how much you will pay in trading costs. Variable spreads may widen considerably during periods of increased market volatility and lower liquidity.
Another drawback is the potential for slippage, where orders may be executed at prices different from those expected, especially during fast-moving markets. Although lower spreads are common, NDD brokers often charge fixed commissions per trade, which can increase overall costs for very active traders. Furthermore, traders have limited control over order execution because the broker acts solely as a conduit without intervention.
NDD Brokers FAQs
This depends on where your NDD broker is regulated. Brands holding licenses from tier-1 regulators like ASIC, CySEC, BaFin, and FCA are legally bound to protect their retail clients from negative balances. As per regulatory requirements, they automatically close out rapidly losing leveraged positions when a customer’s balance drops below the minimum maintenance margin.
Regulated brokers are usually upfront about their order processing policies and openly disclose this information to their customers. Also, brokers operating in-house dealing desks tend to offer fixed spreads, while ECN brokers have floating or variable spreads. Contacting customer support to inquire about the execution model of your broker is always an option.
NDD brokers are suitable for all traders regardless of experience and risk tolerance. Many brokerages using this execution model cater to inexperienced or budget-savvy customers with micro and cent accounts, allowing them to trade considerably smaller contracts. The best NDD brokers in the industry also offer extensive educational resources to help beginners advance their knowledge of the markets.
Brokers using this model commonly deliver faster execution compared to market makers. Factors like server location and infrastructure quality also impact order execution speeds. The trading software your broker uses matters as well. Multi-threaded platforms like MT5 tend to perform better than their single-threaded counterparts.
Brokers without dealing desk intervention offer faster order execution that renders them suitable for high-frequency traders and scalpers entering and exiting multiple trades per day. Active traders generally gravitate toward brokers using the ECN model due to their lower overall trading costs.
About the Editorial Team