What Is a Market Maker in Forex (UK, 2026)

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A market maker is a forex broker that quotes its own buy and sell prices and takes the other side of client trades, rather than routing them to the wider market. The alternative is ECN or STP execution, which passes orders to liquidity providers. This choice of model affects spread, cost and potential conflict of interest.

How a market maker works

A market-maker broker sets its own bid and ask, profiting from the spread and from positions it holds against clients. It can offer fixed spreads and fill small accounts that an ECN venue would price poorly. A typical market-maker EUR/USD spread runs 1.0 to 1.5 pips with no separate commission, versus a raw ECN spread of around 0.2 pips plus roughly £6 per lot round-turn commission, a similar all-in cost at normal trade sizes. Because the broker is the counterparty, a conflict of interest can arise, which FCA regulation, segregation and conduct rules are designed to contain. The spread and financing that fund this model are covered in full in how forex brokers make money.

A-book, B-book and hybrid desks

The industry’s own terms for the two models are A-book and B-book. A-book means the broker hedges or passes your order to a liquidity provider and keeps the commission or markup, the ECN and STP pattern. B-book means the broker holds the trade on its own book, so a client loss is the broker’s gain, the market-making pattern. Most large firms run hybrids, keeping small retail flow on the book while passing large or consistently winning accounts through to the market. FCA conduct rules and best-execution obligations apply to both books, so the model is a pricing question rather than a question of legality.

Market maker versus ECN and STP

An ECN broker routes orders into a network of liquidity providers and charges a commission on a raw spread, so its interest aligns with filling your order well. STP brokers pass orders straight through to liquidity providers without a dealing desk. Market makers suit beginners and fixed-spread traders; ECN and STP suit active traders chasing the tightest raw cost, covered in the ECN guide.

Source: representative advertised EUR/USD rates across FCA-regulated UK brokers, checked July 2026. Individual account pricing varies, so confirm the current figure on each broker’s own UK site.

The split is visible in the UK roster, though the labels here describe each firm’s account structure rather than fix a firm as purely one model. Plus500 prices on a spread only with no separate commission, and Trade Nation runs genuinely fixed spreads, both consistent with a market-making model. Pepperstone states that its Razor account runs no dealing desk, and Eightcap routes raw-account orders straight through to liquidity providers, the agency-style STP pattern. Tickmill prices its Raw account on the same raw-spread-plus-commission basis. The same firm can run more than one model, and FxPro offers an all-in floating Standard account alongside raw-spread-plus-commission accounts. Classifications follow each broker’s own UK pricing and execution disclosures, checked July 2026.

How to tell which model your broker uses

Check the account type rather than the marketing. A raw-spread account charging a per-lot commission is usually ECN or STP. Zero-commission accounts with a wider all-in spread, especially fixed ones, are usually market-making. An FCA-regulated broker states its execution model in its terms; read those before assuming, since some firms run both models on different accounts. See how individual firms disclose their execution model in our broker reviews.

Common mistakes

Assuming a market maker is automatically worse ignores that the model suits some traders and accounts. Reading the headline spread without the commission misjudges the all-in cost on a raw account. Choosing on model alone, rather than total cost and FCA regulation, misses what actually affects results. Total cost matters more than the label; compare all-in pricing across providers in the lowest spread brokers guide. Execution model, cost and risk topics sit together in the wider trading education hub.