Revenika.
Intermediate

No Dealing Desk (NDD)

Also known as: NDD execution, No Dealing Desk broker, Non-dealing desk

What is No Dealing Desk (NDD)?

A No Dealing Desk (NDD) broker passes your orders straight to external liquidity providers instead of filling them in-house. There is no dealer sitting between you and the market taking the opposite side of your trade or hand-adjusting your price. Execution is automatic, at prevailing market quotes.

NDD is an umbrella model that covers two execution styles: STP (Straight-Through Processing), where orders route to one or more liquidity providers, and ECN (Electronic Communication Network), where orders meet a pooled book of banks, funds, and other traders. The opposite model is the Dealing Desk or Market Maker, where the broker itself is the counterparty and profits when clients lose. Because an NDD broker never warehouses your risk, its revenue comes from a fixed commission per lot or a small spread markup, not from your losing trades.

Key takeaways
  • NDD = broker never takes the other side of your trade.
  • Covers both STP and ECN execution styles.
  • Broker earns via commission or spread markup, not client losses.
  • Best selling point for scalpers, algo, and news traders.
  • Variable spreads that widen in news are normal, not a red flag.

The economics are concrete. On an ECN account you might see a raw EUR/USD spread of 0.1 pip plus a commission of $3.50 per side per standard lot ($7 round-turn). On an STP account the broker may instead add roughly 0.3 to 1.0 pip to the raw feed and charge no separate commission. Either way, the broker earns the same whether your position wins or loses, so it has no incentive to requote you, delay fills, or spike the price against your stop.

NDD is a due-diligence and marketing concept as much as a technical one. Brokers such as IC Markets, Pepperstone, and FP Markets promote NDD/ECN execution to signal that they do not trade against clients, which matters most to scalpers, news traders, and algorithmic traders who are sensitive to slippage and requotes.

How it works

When you place an order with an NDD broker, the platform sends it to the broker's aggregation engine, which polls connected liquidity providers for the best available bid and ask. The order is filled at that price, and the broker records its markup or commission as revenue. No human dealer intervenes and the broker does not hold the opposing position on its own book.

In a pure STP flow the broker may add a small markup to the best available quote before showing it to you. In an ECN flow you see raw prices from the pooled book and pay a transparent per-lot commission. Because fills track the underlying market in milliseconds, NDD accounts typically show variable spreads that widen during news and thin liquidity, which is the honest cost of not having a dealer smooth the price.

  1. Trader submits an order

    You click buy or sell on MT4, MT5, or cTrader; the order leaves the terminal with no manual dealer review.

  2. Broker aggregates liquidity

    The broker's bridge polls its connected liquidity providers or ECN book for the best current bid and ask.

  3. Order routes to the best price

    The engine fills the order at the top-of-book price, applying either a spread markup (STP) or a per-lot commission (ECN).

  4. Broker books its fee, not your risk

    Revenue is the commission or markup on that volume; the broker never takes the opposite side, so wins and losses are neutral to it.

  5. IB rebate is generated

    Your rebate accrues per lot from that same commission or spread, paid regardless of whether the trade wins or loses.

Why it matters for partnership: Promoting an NDD broker lets you market a conflict-free environment where the broker profits from volume, not client losses — so its interests align with keeping traders active and funded, which feeds steady volume-based rebates rather than a one-off churn-and-burn payout.

Real World Example

An IB refers an EA-based scalper to an IC Markets Raw Spread account priced at roughly 0.1 pip plus $3.50 per side per lot. The trader runs 400 standard lots a month. Because execution is NDD, IC Markets welcomes the winning algo and routes it to liquidity providers, while the IB earns a per-lot rebate of, say, $2.50 — about $1,000 that month — with no incentive for the broker to interfere.

NDD vs Dealing Desk execution
Feature NDD (STP/ECN) Dealing Desk (Market Maker)
Counterparty External liquidity providers The broker itself
Conflict of interest Low; broker neutral to P&L High; broker profits when you lose
Spreads Variable, tighter, widen in news Often fixed
Requotes Rare Possible
Revenue model Commission or markup on volume Client losses plus spread

Pro Tip

Lead with NDD when targeting intermediate-to-advanced traders who have suffered dealing-desk requotes; pair the claim with the broker's named liquidity providers or a raw-spread screenshot for proof.

Common Pitfalls

Confusing NDD with zero spreads — many NDD brokers still add a spread markup before passing the interbank quote, so marketing it as commission-free or spread-free misleads traders and invites complaints.

FAQ

How does an IB earn from an NDD broker?

You earn a share of the per-lot commission or the spread markup the broker adds, driven entirely by trading volume rather than by whether clients win or lose.

Is NDD the same as ECN?

Not exactly. ECN is one type of NDD execution. NDD is the umbrella that also includes STP, so every ECN broker is NDD but not every NDD broker runs a full ECN book.

Does NDD mean zero spread?

No. NDD only means the broker does not take the other side. Many NDD accounts still show a raw spread plus commission, or a marked-up spread.

Why do NDD spreads widen during news?

Because you see real market liquidity. When banks pull quotes around high-impact releases, the underlying spread widens and an NDD broker passes that through instead of smoothing it.

Can a broker claim NDD but still trade against clients?

Some run a hybrid model, routing profitable clients to liquidity providers (A-book) and internalizing others (B-book). Ask how flow is handled and check independent execution reviews.

Is NDD better for scalping and EAs?

Generally yes, because there is no manual dealer to requote or delay fast orders, though results still depend on latency, slippage, and the broker's liquidity.

Sources & further reading
Reviewed by the Revenika Editorial Desk Last updated

Related Insights

View all Insights