Brokerage research and trading technology

Broker & Platform Intelligence

Understand the providers, costs, technology and protections behind a trade.

Independent research into the firm on the contract, the charges beside a headline commission, the technology that sends an order, and the rules that decide whether an account can be opened. Investigate what an account actually provides before treating a brochure as a fact.

Written by WiT Markets EditorialReview Editorially reviewedLast reviewed

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Hypothetical round trip, in the units of that example. Not a broker tariff.
Hypothetical cost split of 16A stacked bar of commission 4, spread 10 and other charges 2, totalling 16. The figures are a labelled hypothetical, not a market.Commission 4Spread 10Other 2Total 16

Research categories

Eight questions. Counts are published notes carrying that tag. A category with a directory link is not a ranking of the firms on that directory.

Trading costs and execution

Commission, spread, venue charges, conversion, financing and the difference between a screen price and a fill.

Is the advertised commission the whole bill?

6 published notes

View research

Legal entities and custody

The contracting firm, its permissions, who holds assets, and the limit of any compensation scheme.

Which legal name is on the contract?

3 published notes

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Eligibility and restrictions

Residence, account type and the products that entity may offer that person.

Does a page that loads mean you may open the account?

1 published note

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Platforms and technology

Desktop, web, mobile, order types, exports and what a dropped session does to a working order.

Does the screen you will use have the order type?

4 published notes

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Market access

Listed contracts, bilateral contracts and funds that can share a name and still be different positions.

Which venue or counterparty is actually offered?

1 published note

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Operational risk

Outages, collateral changes, restrictions and complaints. Authorisation is not uptime.

How do you reach the firm when the screen fails?

2 published notes

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Evaluation programmes

Fees, targets, drawdown and payout rules. A simulated balance is not capital you deposited.

Which figures did you read, and which balance is simulated?

0 published notes

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Event contracts

Resolution source, fees and geographic blocks. A contract price is not a guaranteed forecast.

What happens if the resolution source is ambiguous?

0 published notes

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Evaluate a provider before funding an account

A reading order. Completing it does not certify a firm, and it does not confirm a permission.
  1. 1Legal entity
  2. 2Permissions
  3. 3Eligibility
  4. 4Costs
  5. 5Technology
  6. 6Operational risk

Mark what you have read. Evidence recorded means you wrote down a source. Needs review means the document was incomplete. Neither mark is a finding by WiT Markets, and neither mark makes a firm safe or authorised.

  1. 1Legal entity

    The agreement names the firm you can claim against. A brand can contain more than one firm.

    • What legal name is on the account agreement?
    • Is that the firm that would hold cash and positions?

    Where to look: The regulator’s register, opened for that legal name.

    Legal entity note
    Legal entity status

  2. 2Permissions and eligibility

    A website that loads is not permission to open the account or to trade every product on it.

    • Which permission does the register show?
    • Does that entity accept residents of the place you live?
    • Which products are outside the permission?

    Where to look: The register entry and the firm’s own eligibility notice.

    Eligibility note
    Permissions and eligibility status

  3. 3Market access

    An asset-class label can hide a different venue, a different contract, or a bilateral counterparty.

    • Which venue or counterparty is named?
    • Which contracts are actually enabled for this account?

    Where to look: The product list and, for a listed contract, the venue’s specification.

    Market access note
    Market access status

  4. 4Trading costs

    Commission, spread, venue charges, conversion and financing are separate lines. A missing line is not zero.

    • Is there a commission, a minimum, or both?
    • Are venue charges included or passed through?
    • How is currency conversion priced?
    • Is there a charge for holding the position?
    • Is market data included?

    Where to look: The entity’s fee schedule and the venue’s own schedule where one applies.

    Trading costs note
    Trading costs status

  5. 5Platform technology

    The screen you will use may not have the order types shown in a group brochure.

    • Which order types does this frontend accept?
    • What is exported after a fill?
    • What happens if the session drops?

    Where to look: The platform guide for the entity, not a generic product tour.

    Platform note
    Platform technology status

  6. 6Operational risk

    Authorisation does not describe uptime, a collateral increase, or how a complaint is handled.

    • How do you reach the firm if the screen fails?
    • What happens to a working order during an interruption?
    • Where is the complaints policy?

    Where to look: The firm’s continuity and complaints documents.

    Operational risk note
    Operational risk status

The economics of a trade

A headline commission is one explicit charge. A spread is an implicit cost of crossing the quote. Venue, clearing, conversion, financing and data can sit on other lines. A cost already inside a fill should not be added again as a separate spread.

The figure is the hypothetical round trip already used in the commission note: 4 of commission, 10 of spread, 2 of other charges, 16 in total. It is arithmetic. It is not a firm’s schedule and not a live market.

What a headline commission leaves out of the bill

Hypothetical round trip, in the units of that example. Not a broker tariff.
Hypothetical cost split of 16A stacked bar of commission 4, spread 10 and other charges 2, totalling 16. The figures are a labelled hypothetical, not a market.Commission 4Spread 10Other 2Total 16

What sits between you and a fill

These layers fail in different places. A fast screen does not describe the venue, and a venue membership is not the same thing as a phone application.

One possible path. Firms split these jobs differently. The arrows are not a claim that every provider uses this sequence.
  1. 1You
  2. 2Frontend
  3. 3Broker systems
  4. 4Venue or counterparty
  5. 5Clearing or custody

Execution

Market, limit and stop instructions are different rules. A stop can become a market order. A gap can pass the price you typed.

Analysis

Charts, depth and chains depend on a data entitlement. A delayed price is a different object from the venue’s live book.

Automation

An interface can send only what the account is allowed to trade. A dropped session is an operational event, described in the firm’s own specification.

Records

Fills, statements and exports are how you check the bill later. A journal on this site stores what you type. It does not import a broker file by itself.

Market access is a contract, not a label

Two firms can both say they offer a market and still differ in venue, contract, order types and whether the firm is the counterparty. Gold on a listed contract and gold as a bilateral position are the example already used on the commodity pages. The same split applies to a share versus a contract written on that share.

Read the access note

Where an account can be opened

Website access, a marketing permission and eligibility are three tests. A parent group’s permission in one country does not move to every subsidiary. Where this site has not verified a country, the status is not verified.

Roles can be split across firms. A parent’s permission does not automatically attach to every subsidiary.
  1. 1Customer
  2. 2Contracting entity
  3. 3Execution
  4. 4Clearing or custody

Read the eligibility note

Risks that are not the price move

Market

The price goes against the position, including through a gap.

Firm credit

The counterparty does not pay. Different from a listed contract that is cleared.

Operations

The screen, the gateway or the process fails. An order may still be working.

Rules

Collateral, a halt, or a permission can change what you are allowed to hold.

When the screen stops

Evaluation programmes

Compare fees, targets and drawdown only with figures you have read. A simulated account size is not cash you deposited, and a fee does not create a right to a payout. The calculators do not import a hidden tariff.

Programme comparison · Evaluation cost · Drawdown

Event contracts

Read the contract’s resolution source, the fee, and who may trade it. A quoted price can be described as an implied probability. It is not a guarantee that the event will resolve that way, and a thin book can make the quote a poor guide to a real order.

Event-contract venues

What do you need to investigate?

Questions

  • Which lines are explicit, and which sit inside the price?
  • Is a small order caught by a minimum charge?

What a headline commission leaves out

Stock-market directory

Profit and loss calculator

This points at research and a directory. It does not score a provider.

Provider directories

Each card opens an existing directory. Inclusion is not an endorsement. Order on those pages, where they publish a list, is not a score. A commercial relationship does not decide the wording here. Some destinations stay out of the staged public navigation because fees or permissions are not confirmed for launch. They are still the project’s directories, not a second list.

Stockbrokers

Listed shares and the provider notes on the stock-market page.

Open directory

Index access

Benchmarks and the products that track them.

Open directory

Commodity providers

The commodities workbook, filtered by group on each category page.

Open directory

Currency dealing

Currency markets and the provider notes filed there.

Open directory

Listed derivatives brokers

Listed contracts, expiry and collateral.

Open directory

Listed options access

Calls, puts and the provider notes filed there.

Open directory

Digital asset platforms

Custody and market structure for cryptoassets.

Open directory

Evaluation firms

Programme rules. A simulated size is not your cash.

Open directory

Event-contract venues

Resolution and eligibility. A price is not a forecast.

Open directory

Trading software

Charting, screeners and other tools in the software directory.

Open directory

Published notes

Search matches the title and the summary. Filters use the tags on published notes. Nothing unpublished is added to fill a gap.

  • Diagram for A firm can require more collateral than the venue’s minimum

    Broker & Platform IntelligenceOperational risk

    A firm can require more collateral than the venue’s minimum

    How venue collateral, a broker’s own requirement and a liquidation rule differ, without quoting a current rate.

    • Venue minimums and house requirements are different numbers.
    • A change in collateral can force a reduction even when the thesis is unchanged.
    • This note does not publish a current collateral rate.

    WiT Markets Editorial1 min read

    Read note
  • Diagram for A holding charge depends on how long the position stays open

    Broker & Platform IntelligenceExecution and costs

    A holding charge depends on how long the position stays open

    Why bilateral products can add a financing charge for positions kept open, and why that charge is separate from the spread.

    • A same-day round trip and a position held overnight can have different bills.
    • The rate, the day-count and the direction of the position are terms to read.
    • This note does not publish a financing rate.

    WiT Markets Editorial1 min read

    Read note
  • Diagram for A listed venue and a bilateral book are different access

    Broker & Platform IntelligenceMarket access

    A listed venue and a bilateral book are different access

    Why two providers that both say they offer a market can still differ in venue, counterparty, contracts and permissions.

    • A listed contract is an exchange instrument. A bilateral contract is with the firm.
    • Two firms can both say a market is available and still list different venues and contracts.
    • A marketing category is not an inventory of permissions.

    WiT Markets Editorial1 min read

    Read note
  • Diagram for A spread-only price and a per-trade charge are different bills

    Broker & Platform IntelligenceExecution and costs

    A spread-only price and a per-trade charge are different bills

    How currency-dealing accounts describe cost as a quote width, as a commission, or as both, without quoting a live spread.

    • Spread-only and commission-plus-spread are different presentations of cost.
    • A raw or tighter quote with a commission is not automatically cheaper.
    • Holding the position can add a financing charge that the spread does not include.

    WiT Markets Editorial1 min read

    Read note
  • Diagram for A zero headline charge is not the same as a low all-in cost

    Broker & Platform IntelligenceExecution and costs

    A zero headline charge is not the same as a low all-in cost

    Why removing a commission line does not remove the spread, conversion, financing or venue charges from a trade.

    • Explicit commission and implicit spread are different lines.
    • A cost already inside an execution price should not be added again on top.
    • WiT Markets does not publish a live broker tariff on this note.

    WiT Markets Editorial1 min read

    Read note
  • Diagram for Automated routing still fails when the path fails

    Broker & Platform IntelligencePlatform technology

    Automated routing still fails when the path fails

    What an application interface can and cannot promise about orders, security and a session that drops.

    • An interface does not create a product the account is not allowed to trade.
    • A dropped session can leave an order working, or can fail to send it. The specification says which.
    • Keys and permissions are operational controls, not a strategy.

    WiT Markets Editorial1 min read

    Read note

Calculators

Each tool starts from numbers you type. None of them looks up a broker’s tariff.

Profit and loss

A result from prices you type.

Open

Investment fee

An annual charge against a return you assume.

Open

Position size

Quantity from a risk, a stop and a multiplier you enter.

Open

Stop and target

Distances you choose.

Open

Programme comparison

Up to four programmes, on terms you enter.

Open

Evaluation cost

Fees you type. Not a hidden tariff.

Open

Programme drawdown

A path from rules you enter.

Open

Trading journal

A record you keep.

Open

Trading performance

Figures from the journal.

Open

How this section is written

Provider names, logos and fee lines stay in the market directories that already hold them. This hub does not copy those rows into a second list and does not turn a missing fee into zero. Regulatory status is a register entry you open, not a badge this page awards. The methodology, the commercial disclosure and the corrections page are the longer versions of those rules.

MethodologyEditorial policyCommercial disclosureCorrections

Sources and review

Written by: WiT Markets Editorial. Writes and structures WiT Markets pages. Separates a sourced fact from a cell that is Not confirmed.

Review: Editorially reviewed. This is not a qualified specialist review and it is not a legal sign-off.

Last reviewed: . Next review due . The date is an editorial pass. It is not a live check of every third-party fee.

Regulatory and official sources

Other sources

Methodology. Editorial policy. Corrections. Report an error.

Broker and trading platform research | WiT Markets