Listed below are all the brokers from our database that offer ECN (Electronic Communication Network) and STP (Straight-through Processing). This is important to many traders because it is closer to trading in the interbank market than what Market Makers can offer. ECN brokers offer deeper liquidity, more transparency, often (though not always) lower transaction costs, and perhaps most importantly, no manipulation of prices or execution, as there is no monetary incentive to do so. Please note that all the brokers listed here offer ECN style trading, but not necessarily to all account holders - there may be conditions that need to be met for ECN/STP accounts are enabled. Please read through the reviews in their entirety and contact the brokers themselves to ensure all information is satisfactory to you before opening a live trading account.
Swap (also known as rollover interest, or overnight interest) is interest that a trader either receives or pays for positions that are held overnight, and are based on the interest differential between the currencies that their position involves. Swap-free accounts are intended mainly for Islamic traders who wish to comply with Sharia law, which prohibits any type of interest payments. These accounts can also be useful to non-Islamic traders who simply wish to do away with the uncertainty in overnight interest, who plan on taking a longer term negative swap position, or other reasons. Some brokers who offer these types of accounts charge certain fees instead of actual interest, so that traders wouldn't abuse the privilege. On the other hand, some brokers do not charge any extra fees (but most do monitor such accounts for abuse). Listed below are some brokers that offer such swap-free, Islamic forex accounts. Each listing also describes any such extra fees that the broker may charge, so please read through the reviews in detail before opening a real account.
Alpari NZ (not the same company as Alpari UK or US), enjoys one of the best reputations for honesty among all retail forex brokers. There are numerous reports on the internet about Alpari spontaneously returning customers' money on orders that didn't get filled properly as a result of some error on Alpari's part. This is almost unheard of in the retail forex world, as most traders have to fight tooth-and-nail with their brokers for every pip. If this is the sort of service you value, and you should, then look no further than Alpari.
Location:
New Zealand
Guaranteed stop losses:
No
Swap-free accounts:
$10 per standard lot (100,000) round turn trade. Trade can be held for unlimited time period.
AFB FX is a forex and OTC futures broker based in Cyprus. By far the best feature offered by AFB FX is the availability of Professional Accounts, which offer highly flexible trading conditions. The spreads, margin requirements and virtually all other parameters are negotiable on Professional Accounts, making them the preferred choice among account managers. Having said that though, most of the other accounts also offer trading conditions that are quite reasonable.
Location:
Cyprus
Guaranteed stop losses:
Yes, limit and stop orders are guaranteed against slippage, except under market conditions
Swap-free accounts:
Yes - no extra charges and available to everyone, not just Islamic traders
FastBrokers, a subsidiary of Fast Trading Services, LLC, offers simultaneous trading on multiple Forex ECN feeds streaming on a single trading platform through its proprietary ECN2 technology. By developing ECN2 (available on their proprietary platform PathFinder Trader™) FastBrokers gives to its clients tight spreads, ECN style execution, and the opportunity to choose which liquidity provider is offering the better conditions - before placing a trade. PathFinder Trader™ is also a professional trading tool which includes Level 2 (Depth of Market), a professional Charting package, one-click trading from multiple locations including trading from the Charts, and automated trading and back-testing through its own scripting language (PathScript).
Location:
Glendale, California, USA
Guaranteed stop losses:
No, orders are executed at best available price.
Swap-free accounts:
Yes - no extra fees are incurred on Islamic style accounts
IBFX is widely regarded as one of the premier brokers in the retail forex market, and there is a reason for this reputation. Guaranteed fills on stop and limit orders, combined with very low spreads, straight-through order processing (no dealing desk) to multiple liquidity providers, industry-standard MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platform
Hantec Markets offers professional traders a very solid forex trading package, along with all the advantages and disadvantages that the MT4 and Currenex platforms come with. The great thing is that you get access to a real ECN and can trade to something very similar to the interbank market (although not in the interbank market itself). You can see the liquidity and pending orders, you can use complex order types such as if/then and one-cancels-other (OCO), and make use of many other professional level features available on Currenex.
Location:
London, UK
Guaranteed stop losses:
No, all orders are executed at best available price
