Electronic trading platform in the context of "Electronic Broking Services"

An electronic communication network (ECN) is a type of computerized forum or network that facilitates the trading of financial products outside traditional stock exchanges. An ECN is generally an electronic system accessed by an electronic trading platform that widely disseminates orders entered by market makers to third parties and permits the orders to be executed against them in whole or in part. The primary products that are traded on ECNs are stocks and currencies. ECNs are generally passive computer-driven networks that internally match limit orders and charge a very small per share transaction fee (often a fraction of a cent per share).

The first ECN, Instinet, was created in 1969. ECNs increase competition among trading firms by lowering transaction costs, giving clients full access to their order books, and offering order matching outside traditional exchange hours. ECNs are sometimes also referred to as alternative trading systems or alternative trading networks.

In finance, a dark pool (also black pool) is a private forum (alternative trading system or ATS) for trading securities, derivatives, and other financial instruments. Liquidity on these markets is called dark pool liquidity. The bulk of dark pool trades represent large trades by financial institutions that are offered away from public exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ, so that such trades remain confidential and outside the purview of the general investing public. The fragmentation of electronic trading platforms has allowed dark pools to be created, and they are normally accessed through crossing networks or directly among market participants via private contractual arrangements. Generally, dark pools are not available to the public, but in some cases, they may be accessed indirectly by retail investors and traders via retail brokers.

One of the main advantages for institutional investors in using dark pools is for buying or selling large blocks of securities without showing their hand to others and thus avoiding market impact, as neither the size of the trade nor the identity are revealed until some time after the trade is filled. However, it also means that some market participants—retail investors—are disadvantaged, since they cannot see the orders before they are executed. Prices are agreed upon by participants in the dark pools, so the market is no longer transparent. A 2025 study found that dark trading is harmful to financial markets, as it either reduced market efficiency or entailed welfare losses.

High-touch refers to the involvement of personal attention and service. In business, the term often refers to situations where trust between the customer and employed individual(s) is necessary. High-touch areas include: medicine, wealth management, reference desk, real estate, and legal. Stock trading done by humans, as opposed to automated trading or using online brokers, is also referred to as high-touch.

Reuters 3000 Xtra was an electronic trading platform which was released by Reuters in 1999 and supported until the end of 2013. It was typically used by professional traders and financial analysts in trading rooms. It was superseded by the Eikon platform, first released in 2010.

3000 Xtra provided real-time market data such as price data on exchange traded stocks, warrants, options, futures, indices, bonds, commodities and currencies, as well as streaming news and comprehensive economic indicators and financial data. Originally designed as an information system, later versions also introduced trading functions, allowing orders to be placed on a number of electronic exchanges and with other dealing desks.