Author

Sofía Mendes

Execution quality analyst and former Tier-1 bank FX dealer. Writes on slippage, TCA, and dealing desk design.

20articles

Published

Articles by Sofía Mendes

Stop Building a “Plugin Pile”: A Clean MT5 Architecture Map for Brokers (Plugins vs Bridge vs CRM)

A practical MT5 architecture guide for brokers: what belongs in MT5 plugins vs the liquidity bridge vs the CRM—and how to avoid brittle dependencies and costly outages.

April 19, 20266 min28

MT5 Off-Quotes & Invalid Price Errors: A Broker’s Playbook to Stabilize Execution

Off-quotes and invalid price errors in MT5 are usually broker-side: feed quality, bridge settings, symbol config, or risk controls. This guide maps root causes to fixes and monitoring.

April 18, 202613 min73

Spreads, Commissions, and Swaps: The Broker’s Decision Tree for Pricing Without Margin Erosion

A practical decision tree for choosing spread markup, commission, and swap policies—balancing profitability, client experience, and dispute risk across execution models.

April 2, 202615 min698

When Markets Spike: A Broker’s Playbook for News-Trading Risk Controls

A practical framework for brokers to manage news volatility using freeze levels, execution rules, and clear client comms—without breaking trust or compliance.

March 15, 202615 min1,528

Swap & Rollover Liquidity: A Complete Guide to LP Funding Rates, Tom/Next, and Cutoffs

Learn how LP funding rates, Tom/Next rollovers, and broker cutoffs translate into client swap charges—and where operational errors create P&L and disputes.

March 14, 202614 min1,558

Execution Quality Scorecards for FX Brokers: Metrics, Benchmarks, and a Reporting Template

Learn how to measure FX execution quality using slippage, requotes, fill ratios, and latency—plus a broker-ready reporting template you can operationalize.

March 12, 202614 min1,622

The No-Drama Spread Markup Playbook: Earn More While Keeping Traders Happy

A practical framework to introduce, monitor, and optimize spread markups—without triggering execution issues, compliance risk, or client complaints.

March 12, 202614 min1,606

Liquidity Provider Tiers Explained (Bank, Non‑Bank, PoP, ECN): What Brokers Actually Get

Learn how bank, non-bank, Prime of Prime, and ECN liquidity differ in pricing, depth, last look, credit, and integration—plus what brokers truly receive.

March 12, 202619 min1,788

Understanding Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)

Learn what Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) is, who it applies to, and how forex brokers should think about liquidity, capital, and client money safeguards instead.

March 11, 202611 min1,643

Understanding the DAX Performance Index: A Complete Guide

Learn what the DAX Performance Index is, how it’s calculated, and why “performance” vs “price” indexing matters for brokers, prop firms, and fintech operators.

March 11, 202612 min1,854

The Importance of an A-Book in Running a Forex Brokerage

Discover how the A-Book model enhances transparency and execution quality for forex brokers by routing trades directly to liquidity providers.

February 3, 20266 min2,029

Using Liquidation Heatmaps to Strengthen Your Crypto & Forex Trading Strategy

Liquidation heatmaps reveal where leveraged positions may be forced to close, creating opportunities and risks. Learn how to use them for better risk management in crypto and forex trading.

September 14, 20256 min11,878