Straight-Through Processing (STP)

Straight-through processing routes a trader's order directly to external liquidity providers for execution, without a dealing desk manually intervening or taking the other side of the trade. STP brokers typically mark up the raw liquidity-provider spread slightly instead of charging a separate commission, though some offer raw spreads plus commission as well. STP sits between a pure market maker (which internalizes trades) and a full ECN (which shows depth of market from multiple providers) in terms of transparency and typical cost structure.