Electronic communication network

The SEC's description, referring to Rule 600 of Regulation NMS, says ECNs automatically match buy and sell orders at specified prices, register as broker-dealers, and are subject to Regulation ATS. Subscribers are typically institutions, broker-dealers and market makers. An individual investor needs an account with a subscriber broker before an order can be routed there. Subscribers usually use limit orders, which the ECN posts and matches. Retail FX marketing uses the letters ECN for a range of pricing models. That label is not this SEC category, and it is not a type of FCA permission. A firm calling an account an ECN account is using its own product name.