1) Key concepts (institutional vocabulary)
Before choosing technology, align your team on definitions. Many brokers waste months because "LP integration" means different things to different stakeholders.
Liquidity Provider (LP)
The LP streams prices and accepts orders. Some LPs are banks, some are non-bank market makers, and some are aggregators. What matters is execution quality, stability, coverage, and commercial terms.
Prime Broker (PB) vs Prime-of-Prime (PoP)
- PB: institutional access with strict onboarding, larger volumes, and deeper requirements.
- PoP: broker-friendly access to institutional-style liquidity with lower barriers. Common for retail brokers.
Bridge / Aggregator
A bridge connects your trading platform (MT4/MT5 or custom) to one or more LPs. It often provides aggregation, markups, routing rules, and operational tooling. Centroid is a common choice for brokers that want fast go-live with professional routing.
Gateway
In MT5, "gateway" often refers to components that connect MT5 to external systems (LPs/bridges). The exact pattern depends on your platform setup and which vendor you integrate.
2) Bridge vs direct FIX (and why most brokers start with bridges)
Direct FIX is powerful — and brutally operational. Bridges exist because FIX is not just a protocol; it's an operating discipline. Sequence handling, resend storms, session drops, and fill reconciliation must be handled correctly.
When a bridge is the best choice
- You want to connect multiple LPs quickly and test execution/routing without a large engineering team.
- You want a battle-tested UI for routing rules, markups, symbol mapping, and monitoring.
- You're running MT4/MT5 and want a standard integration path.
When direct FIX makes sense
- You need custom order types, proprietary execution logic, or unique post-trade workflows.
- You want deep control over routing and fills for specific instruments.
- You have the team to build and operate FIX connectivity reliably.
If you want to see a high-level FIX overview, your technical pages help build trust: FIX API, WebSockets, Data Feed
3) MT5/MT4 connectivity patterns (practical)
Most brokers are not choosing "bridge vs FIX" in isolation. They're choosing a full stack: platform + bridge + LP(s) + risk + CRM/back office.
Common institutional pattern for MT5
- MT5 serves client terminals and manages accounts/positions.
- A bridge/aggregator connects MT5 to LPs via FIX.
- The bridge manages symbol mapping, markups, and routing.
- Monitoring tracks spreads, rejects, slippage, and execution latency.
If you offer Centroid operations, it should be explicitly linked from this page: Centroid bridge management
Direct connectivity considerations
- Where do you compute markups — platform, bridge, or gateway?
- How do you handle symbol specs and trading sessions across venues?
- How do you reconcile fills when there are partial fills and re-quotes?
4) Aggregation, markups, and price construction
"Best price" is not only a math problem. It's a policy problem. Your price construction determines your spread revenue, execution quality, and dispute rate.
Aggregation basics
- Top-of-book: best bid/ask across LPs
- Depth: multiple levels (useful for larger tickets)
- Last look: some LPs can reject after quote; account for it in routing
Markups
Markups can be applied by instrument, account type, region, or client segment. Mature brokers define markups as configuration, not code.
5) Multi-LP routing strategies
Routing is where you turn "multiple LPs" into a performance advantage. A robust router considers success rate, latency, rejects, and cost.
Routing strategies you'll see in mature brokers
- Primary + fallback: route to LP A, fallback to LP B on reject/timeout
- Region-aware routing: LPs can perform differently by geography and session
- Instrument routing: metals/crypto may need different LP selection
- Latency-aware routing: choose the fastest stable venue for that symbol
6) Risk controls (A-Book, B-Book, hybrid)
Liquidity integration is inseparable from risk. If you don't define risk policy, your execution becomes inconsistent and hard to defend.
Minimum controls to define
- Max exposure per symbol and per group
- Max order size and velocity limits
- Slippage policy and execution tolerances
- Handling for market gaps and news volatility
7) Operations: monitoring and incident response
Institutional connectivity requires institutional monitoring. If the bridge drops, if an LP spikes rejects, or if spreads blow out, you need alerting and a playbook.
KPIs to track daily
- Execution latency (median, p95)
- Reject rate by LP and symbol group
- Slippage distribution
- Spread distribution vs expected
- Disconnect/reconnect frequency
8) Integration checklist
Before you connect an LP
- Confirm instrument coverage and sessions (including holidays)
- Define markup policy and routing rules
- Define risk limits and escalation workflow
- Prepare monitoring dashboards and alerts
During integration
- Validate symbol mapping and contract specs
- Run load tests and spike tests (news events)
- Simulate disconnect storms and resend scenarios
- Validate trade lifecycle end-to-end (fill → ledger → statement)
After go-live
- Review KPIs weekly and adjust routing
- Maintain a fallback plan (secondary LP / secondary bridge path)
- Document operational runbooks for your team
Where Brokeret fits
Brokeret helps brokers run connectivity as an operating system: stable bridges, clean integrations, monitoring, and workflows. If you want professional Centroid operations or platform management, start here: