Advanced Markets is a company focused on bringing true Direct Market Access (DMA) liquidity, credit and technology solutions to the foreign exchange, energy, precious metals and CFD markets. Our firm has put together an international team of FX experts who are located all over the world. Our marketing team asked key members of this team to tell us a little more about their individual roles and responsibilities, the clients that the firm is servicing and their thoughts on how Advanced Markets is adapting to the fast changing FX landscape.

Topics: Traders, FX Liquidity, Platforms & Technology, Company, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup, Forex Marketing, Wholesale FX, FX Technology Provider, FX Liquidity Provider, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

FIX API has been a trending phrase amongst Forex professionals for the past decade. The technology has proven to be the fastest and one of the most secure ways to trade in FX.
A FIX API is an application programming interface (API) that uses FIX protocol. It connects FX Liquidity makers with takers. In our case, FX FIX API is a way to connect directly with a particular Liquidity Provider or aggregator.

Topics: Traders, Industry Trends, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup, Forex B2B, MiFID2, Wholesale FX, FIX API, Retail Trader, Institutional Broker

Recently at an FX conference, a developing fund manager and I crossed paths. After a few polite introductions, I quickly realized that, based on his audited returns, the new fund manager was proficient in trading the FX market. The detailed description of the fund’s fundamental and technical trading strategies was welcoming to hear.
After a few routine questions from the prospective client, the topic promptly turned to spreads and liquidity (my favorite). The fund manager was comparing pricing between FX brokers and asked why spreads are so contrasting amidst all of the firms in question.

Topics: FX Liquidity, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup, Forex B2B, Regulation, Wholesale FX, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

2018 was a challenging year for retail FX brokerages with many of them being sold over the counter and others struggling to implement the new rules mandated by regulators.

What we can say is that 2018 was first and foremost a year of new regulation. Legal teams have been working hard to structure businesses differently and/or adapt to the new rules. Quiet contrary to the goals of the regulators’ goals, offshore is once more becoming the broker’s common strategy, especially to continue to offer high leverage to retail clients.

Topics: Traders, Industry Trends, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, Forex B2B, Regulation, MiFID, MiFID2, Retail Trader, Retail Broker, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

I thought it would be useful to compile a short list of the main differences found when trading OTC (over-the-counter) FX with an STP (Straight Through Processing / No Dealing Desk) “Prime of Prime” and a Retail brokerage.

The differences can be categorized as follows:

- Vetting / Onboarding
- Netting vs Hedging
- Deposits
- Execution

Topics: Traders, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, Forex B2B, STP, Wholesale FX, Retail Trader, Retail Broker, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

I’m sure there aren’t many industry peers who have managed to escape the MIFID 2 avalanche this past year and, perhaps only the frenzy surrounding crypto currencies, ICO and Bitcoin comes close to the boiling hot MIFID 2 topic in 2017.

For the better half of 2017, brokers and trading firms, falling under the reach of MIFID 2, were very busy implementing the parameters and protocol needed in order for them to comply with the new regulatory standards.

Topics: Traders, Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, Regulation, MiFID, MiFID2, Retail Trader, Retail Broker, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

As January 3, 2018 approaches, FX industry participants are busy reading through the new financial laws of “Markets in Financial Instruments Directive” (MiFID 2) in an attempt to understand how these will affect them going forward.

Originally, MiFID was created following the 2008 financial crisis in an effort to standardize the regulatory disclosures for particular markets. MiFID 2 came along with a revised set of standards which will enforce transparency, enhance investor protection and expand reporting to regulators, effectively changing the way that Europe’s secondary markets function. The significance of these changes should not be underestimated as the regulatory expectations of higher quality data sets will most likely lead to more regulatory issues and fines.

Topics: Traders, Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, Regulation, MiFID, MiFID2, Retail Trader, Retail Broker, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

From social media strategy to content creation, what are the steps to take to reach the 1.4 billion-people Chinese market?

Penguin Intelligence, a research agency subsidy of Tencent, recently reported that as of Q4 2016, there were 889 million active users monthly. People are spending, on average, 66 minutes each day on WeChat with 57.22% of new WeChat contacts added for work-related matters and 6.04% service providers. Over 80% of users used WeChat group for work-related purposes with WeChat group becoming an important venue for business communications.
These statistics clearly indicate that WeChat is the potentially the most powerful platform through which to reach new leads and clients for your business.

Topics: Company, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, Forex B2B, Forex Marketing, Know Your Client (KYC)

MAM is an acronym for Multi Account Manager, a plugin originally designed for the Meta Trader 4 Platform to allow the proportional (or any set) profit and loss distribution from Fund Manager (or Master) to Investors (or Sub Accounts).

The Master Account serves as the primary (and the only real) trading account, and sub accounts receive the results of the actions performed on the Master Account (only proportional COPIES of the original trades).

Topics: Traders, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup, Forex B2B, MT5, MT4, MetaTrader, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

The MetaTrader 4 Bridge is one of the most popular add-ons for MT4 Servers. It was created in early 2000 and, ever since then, there have been many rumors as to who actually developed the first commercial version (of course, many industry veterans know the name).

MetaTrader 5 bridges are now beginning to emerge, and the speed of their development is directly correlated with the very recent growth in MT5 adoption rates.

Topics: Traders, Platforms & Technology, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, MT5, MT4, MetaTrader, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

While some industry sources are arguing whether or not MiFID II will dramatically affect the FX industry, most FCA and CySEC licensed FX brokers are rapidly adjusting policies in order to comply with the new requirements. 

One of the key changes of MiFID II is an implementation of the term “best execution” and a directive to ensure “All Sufficient steps” (Article 64 -4) are in place to support that.

Topics: FX Liquidity, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, Licensing, Regulation, MiFID2, FX Liquidity Provider, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

Yesterday, I got an email from one of my old contacts thanking me for persuading him not to go into the retail FX brokerage business last year. The email was sent from the corporate domain of his new business venture, one that is apparently doing well with only a 30% involvement with the FX industry.

His experience has inspired me to write a short article that can serve as a wake-up call to anyone contemplating starting their own FX Brokerage.

Topics: Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup, Forex B2B, Forex Marketing, FX Technology Provider, FX Liquidity Provider

There are several ways that an STP brokerage can make a profit. The broker may either charge their clients a commission ($X per $million), apply a markup to the price feed, or perhaps a combination of both.

In MT4, the commission charged to the client is typically set in deposit currency per lot ( In this article, we will be using US Dollars as deposit currency for an easy and clear explanation).
An STP brokerage can also choose to charge their clients a markup, which will be added into spread that their retail clients see. Markup is normally defined as points added per lot. Markup is usually invisible to your clients and tends to be more flexible as you have the ability to adjust the markup according to market conditions.

Topics: Traders, FX Liquidity, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, Forex B2B, STP, MT4, Wholesale FX, FX Liquidity Provider, Retail Trader, Retail Broker, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

There are many Forex terms a FX Professional have to know to do a great job and to be successful. In order to help Brokers and Traders to get to know the basics of the FX industry, the Advanced Markets Team created this glossary. 
Discover the Advanced Markets FX dictionary here and feel free to contact us if you want us to add further terms!

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Topics: Traders, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup, Forex B2B, Retail Trader, Retail Broker, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

Topics: Brokerage, Licensing, Regulation

Topics: Thought Leadership, Brokerage, Gold

Topics: Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup

The world of online Retail FX has become increasingly competitive and congested but, regardless, the industry remains extremely attractive to investors, insiders and entrepreneurs alike. One key factor adding to the attraction is the ease by which a person can actually start their own brokerage. In past years, starting a brokerage normally required expert technology and market knowledge combined with a significant amount of free capital but today, advances in technology and an increase in the options available for regulatory licenses have greatly reduced the cost and the “time-to-market”.

Topics: Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup

Over the past few years the traditional FX Prime Broker industry has been thinning out, creating a demand for the types of services they provided. The loss of the institutional big bank Prime Brokerage services has occurred due to credit risk, small profit margin, risk aversion and new regulation. This reaction by those larger prime brokers has been clearing the way for specialized FX Prime of Prime (PoP) firms to gain market share. A Prime of Prime brokerage is a one stop shop for retail brokerages, hedge funds, money managers and wholesale traders to access top tiered global bank liquidity, cutting edge technology, cost effective rollover rates and clearing services.

Topics: Traders, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Prime of Prime, Brokerage, FX Liquidity Provider, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

On January 15, 2015, the SNB (Swiss National Bank) caused a massive upheaval in the FX industry when they manipulated the exchange rate of the franc and unpegged their currency against the euro.
This action threw the markets into complete panic, ultimately producing capitulation with the CHF pairs and creating catastrophic losses throughout the industry. Market participants were affected across the entire spectrum, all the way from the top tiered global banks down to individual investors.
The large banks and market makers were able to absorb the losses (or major gains if B Book), but the smaller, more vulnerable, participants could not.
Some brokerages were forced to close their doors due to negative balances as a result of the losses sustained from their client’s positions. A multitude of firms such as Alpari UK, Boston Prime, Excel Markets and Liquid Markets became insolvent, just to name a few.

Topics: Traders, Thought Leadership, Forex Brokerage, Start Your Own Forex Brokerage, Brokerage, SYOB, FX Broker Startup, Forex B2B, Retail Trader, Retail Broker, Institutional Trader, Institutional Broker

Our team has a combined 100 years plus experience in institutional FX and prime brokerage fields. We use that experience and proven insights to work with FX brokerages and asset managers to enhance their offerings and achieve better operational efficiencies. At Advanced Markets and Fortex our focus will remain on helping you to solve complex problems and grow your business by leveraging superior Fortex technology and best of breed liquidity from Advanced Markets.

Topics: Traders, Company, Thought Leadership, Prime of Prime, Brokerage