Frequently Asked Questions

ECN is the most overused term in retail FX, so it is worth being precise about what it does and does not tell you.

What the label actually describes

In a genuine ECN structure, client orders are aggregated into a liquidity pool and passed to external liquidity providers. The broker earns from the spread or a marked-up commission rather than from trading against you.

What it does not tell you

• Not your price quality. Several brokers with the same label route to different liquidity pools with different depth.
• Not your execution speed. Routing architecture and server proximity determine this, not the business model label.
• Not your regulator. The model and the licence are independent questions and should be checked separately.

Raw versus standard pricing

ECN is a routing model; raw pricing is a charging model. They often appear together but are independent. A raw-spread account can be commission-based with no markup, and a standard account can access the same pool with the margin built into the spread.

The break-even arithmetic

Raw pricing charges commission per lot regardless of size, so it advantages higher volume. Below roughly 8 lots per month the fixed commission component can exceed the saving, making a standard account cheaper. Calculate the crossover against your own volume rather than assuming.

Protection is jurisdiction-specific, and the same broker can offer different protections to a client in different countries. Check which entity your account is actually opened with.

Two layers, not one

Segregation is the baseline: client funds must be held separately from the broker’s own money, so a broker insolvency does not consume client balances. This is required in most regulated jurisdictions.

Compensation schemes are the second layer and are jurisdiction-specific. A UK FCA-authorised entity may fall under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, up to a statutory limit. An Australian ASIC-regulated entity relies on client money segregation under a different regime with different limits.

What to verify before depositing

1. Which legal entity opens your account, and in which jurisdiction.
2. Whether that entity is regulated, with the licence number checked directly on the regulator’s own site.
3. Whether client funds are segregated, and at which institution.
4. Whether a compensation scheme applies, and its cap.

Why this belongs in the entity data

Every broker record in the directory carries regulators, licence numbers and client-fund protection fields precisely so these questions can be answered before depositing, rather than after a problem.

A delayed withdrawal is usually administrative rather than a liquidity problem, but the two are indistinguishable from the client side. Here is how to tell them apart.

Most common causes

• Identity verification incomplete. Automated payouts only activate after documents are approved. Complete this before you need the funds, not after.
• Unverified destination account. Withdrawals to an account or method not in your own name are usually rejected. The destination must match your verified identity.
• Outside banking hours. Weekend and public holiday submissions wait for the payment system to reopen.
• Destination on the broker’s restricted list. Cards and accounts issued in high-risk jurisdictions are frequently blocked.
• Third-party deposits. Deposits from an unrelated third party trigger a source-of-funds review.

How to avoid delays entirely

1. Complete identity verification immediately after registration.
2. Add and verify your withdrawal destination in advance, in your own name.
3. Withdraw during your broker’s published processing window.
4. Keep a record of every transaction reference.

Broker differences worth checking

Some brokers operate genuinely automated withdrawal systems that run around the clock; others queue during business hours. Ask specifically whether the payout is automated or manually reviewed — it materially changes what “2–4 business days” actually means.

Regulation is the gate, not the pricing.

Entry requirements

• An active licence confirmed directly with a recognised tier-1 regulator (ASIC, FCA, CySEC or equivalent).
• A verifiable legal entity and registered jurisdiction.
• Published, checkable client-fund protection arrangements.
• Sufficient operating history to assess execution behaviour.

Why offshore-only entities are excluded

A 0.0 pip spread is easy to offer without the capital buffers a regulated entity must hold. Where we cannot verify the licensing jurisdiction and client-fund segregation, the offering is excluded regardless of how attractive the headline terms look.

Ongoing monitoring

Regulation status can change. Each record carries a verification date, and reviews are re-checked on a rolling basis. If a broker loses its licence or a warning is issued, the record is flagged or removed.

The complete methodology is published on the Disclosure page.

There is no advisory fee charged to traders at any point.

How the relationship is funded

Where a broker pays an introducer or affiliate commission, it is paid out of the broker’s own margin. Your trading cost — spread, commission, swap — is set by the broker and is identical whether you arrive through this site or independently.

Full disclosure

Every relationship is listed on the Disclosure page with the broker name, relationship type and verification date, and is repeated on the relevant entity page. Evaluations are written from logged execution data and are not altered as a result of a relationship.

What HisFx does not do

• Does not manage, hold or accept client funds.
• Does not execute trades or provide personalised investment advice.
• Does not guarantee returns or promise any outcome.
• Does not operate a trading platform.

Three properties matter for an automated system, and none of them is the advertised minimum spread.

1. Latency and its dispersion

Average ping matters less than the spread between your median fill and your worst fill. A broker averaging 12 ms with a 1.5 pip 95th-percentile deviation is safer for a grid than one averaging 8 ms with a 9 pip tail. Grid logic assumes the adverse tail is bounded.

2. Spread behaviour under stress

Test the advertised spread during a tier-1 US data release, not during Asian session calm. The difference between those two numbers determines whether your system survives a news event. Brokers vary enormously here and the published figure tells you nothing about it.

3. Requote and execution policy

A zero-requote policy on an ECN account is a hard requirement for automated execution. On a market-maker model, requotes are normal and an EA cannot model for them reliably.

Pre-flight checklist

• Confirm the broker holds an active licence with a recognised regulator in your region.
• Confirm EA deployment and third-party EAs are permitted by the platform in question.
• Log at least 500 live orders to measure deviation before committing meaningful size.
• Confirm VPS placement near the broker servers is available at your account tier.

Where HisFx holds a disclosed introducer relationship with a broker, that relationship is stated on the relevant entity page and does not affect the evaluation. See the Disclosure page for the full list.