Market maker

The COBS and MiFID limb of the glossary says a market maker holds themselves out on the financial markets, on a continuous basis, as willing to deal on their own account by buying and selling financial instruments against their own capital at prices they define. An older limb, used outside COBS, is similar: prices are set generally and continuously rather than negotiated for each trade. A retail CFD firm that quotes its own prices and takes the other side can fall under that description. The glossary definition does not say that every FX broker is a market maker, and it does not say that dealing as principal is better or worse than sending an order elsewhere.