A requote in forex occurs when a broker is unable — or unwilling — to execute your order at the price you requested and instead offers you a new price to accept or reject. Rather than filling your trade at the market price, the broker pauses execution and presents a revised quote, typically accompanied by a message such as “Price has moved — accept new price?” or similar.
The requote is most commonly experienced when using market orders during fast-moving markets. You click “buy” at 1.3000, but by the time the broker attempts to fill, the price has moved to 1.3005. Instead of filling you at 1.3005 (which would be slippage), the broker halts execution and asks whether you want to proceed at the new price.
Unlike slippage — where the trade is filled automatically at the best available price — a requote interrupts your execution entirely, forcing a decision in real time. This disruption is one of the most frustrating experiences for active traders, and understanding why it happens is the first step to avoiding it.
Why Do Requotes Happen?
1. Market Maker Execution Models
Requotes are almost exclusively a feature of market maker broker execution. In a market maker model, the broker acts as the direct counterparty to your trade — they take the other side. When you buy, the broker is effectively selling to you. To do this profitably, the broker must manage their own price exposure.
When prices move rapidly, a market maker’s system may determine that filling at your requested price creates unacceptable risk for the broker. Rather than fill you at a price they consider disadvantageous, the system returns a requote at the new market price.
This is fundamentally different from the ECN/STP model, where your order is passed directly to liquidity providers at whatever the current market price is. In an ECN model, the order either fills at the best available price (with potential slippage) or it does not fill at all — but it does not pause for a requote.
2. Slow or Congested Execution Infrastructure
Even brokers with mixed execution models can produce requotes when their server infrastructure is congested — particularly during high-impact news events when order volume spikes dramatically. If the broker’s system cannot process orders quickly enough, orders queue, prices change during the wait, and requotes result.
3. Deliberately Configured Requote Systems
This is the aspect most concerning to traders. Some brokers configure their systems to requote selectively — generating requotes in conditions that are systematically disadvantageous to traders but beneficial to the broker. Requotes may be triggered asymmetrically: when price has moved against the trader’s order (a fill would be bad for the trader), the broker fills normally; when price has moved in the trader’s favour (a fill would be profitable for the trader), the broker issues a requote.
This practice — while difficult to prove — is a form of execution manipulation and is illegal under regulations in the UK (FCA), EU (MiFID II), and Australia (ASIC). Choosing a FCA-regulated broker provides meaningful protection against this type of practice.
How Requotes Differ from Slippage
Requotes and slippage are both execution outcomes that arise when the price you see differs from the price available at execution time, but they resolve very differently.
Feature | Slippage | Requote |
Trade fills? | Yes — automatically at the best available price | No — execution pauses, new price offered |
Trader decision required? | No | Yes — must accept or reject new price |
Common in which model? | ECN/STP (market fills) | Market Maker (manual requote process) |
Direction | Can be positive or negative | Almost always against the trader |
Disruption to strategy | Moderate — fills at different price | High — interrupts execution entirely |
Associated with | Fast markets, liquidity gaps | Market makers, slow infrastructure |
The key practical difference is control. With slippage, the trade happens — at whatever price was available. With a requote, you have a moment to decide whether to accept the new terms. In theory, this sounds advantageous. In practice, the new price is almost always worse than your requested price, and the interruption occurs at precisely the most volatile moment — when you least have time to deliberate.
The Impact of Requotes on Different Trading Styles
Scalpers
Scalping is the trading style most severely harmed by requotes. A scalping strategy that targets 3–5 pips of profit per trade is completely undermined if requotes occur frequently. A single requote of 2–3 pips on entry eliminates the entire profit target of the trade. Scalpers require brokers that explicitly guarantee no-requote execution with instant fills.
If you are a scalper, look for brokers that explicitly permit and support scalping. You can compare day trading brokers at CompareBroker.io and filter for those with instant execution and no-requote policies.
News Traders
Traders who enter specifically around news events are perhaps the most exposed to requotes, because news events are precisely the conditions where requote frequency peaks. A news trading strategy depends on entering quickly at the moment of maximum price movement — which is exactly when market maker systems are most likely to issue requotes rather than fill.
Algorithmic and EA Traders
Automated strategies on MetaTrader 4 or MT5 are designed to execute trades based on logic, not human reaction. A requote disrupts the automation loop — the EA may be coded to handle requotes, but each requote introduces latency and uncertainty that was not in the original backtest. High-frequency automated strategies require brokers that route to direct market access.
You can compare MT4 brokers that offer ECN execution with MT4 compatibility — combining the familiarity of the MT4 platform with the no-requote execution of direct market access.
Swing Traders
Swing traders entering with limit orders are largely immune to requotes, because limit orders do not have the same instant-execution vulnerability. If you are a swing trader and you are experiencing frequent requotes, the simplest solution is to transition to limit order entries wherever your strategy permits.
How to Identify Requote Frequency Before Opening an Account
Before committing real capital to a broker, there are several ways to assess their requote behaviour:
- Test the demo account during news events. Open the broker’s demo account and attempt market order entries during high-impact data releases. Note whether requotes appear. This does not definitively replicate live trading behaviour, but it offers a reasonable signal.
- Read independent broker reviews. Look for reviews that specifically discuss execution quality, requote frequency, and slippage patterns from real traders. Reviews that mention consistently favourable slippage (only positive) or absence of requotes under normal conditions are positive signals.
- Check the broker’s execution policy documentation. Regulated brokers publish order execution policies. Look for explicit language about best execution, no-requote commitments, and maximum deviation settings.
- Ask the broker directly. Ask their support team: “What is your policy on requotes during high-impact news events? Do you pass positive slippage to clients?” The specificity and confidence of the response is itself informative.
- Check regulation. Brokers regulated by the FCA, ASIC, and CySEC operate under best-execution obligations that limit the degree to which requotes can be used systematically against traders. You can compare FCA-regulated brokers and compare ECN brokers to identify brokers with the most transparent execution environments.
No-Requote Brokers: What to Look For
A “no-requote” broker does not pause execution to ask for price confirmation. Instead, they fill orders at the best available current market price — which may involve slippage, but the trade executes without interruption.
Key features of genuine no-requote brokers:
- ECN or STP execution model — Orders are routed to multiple liquidity providers, with fills at the best available price at execution time
- Negative balance protection — A safety mechanism ensuring you cannot lose more than your deposit. For a full explanation of why this matters, see the guide on what is negative balance protection
- Published liquidity depth — Transparency about where orders go and what liquidity is available
- Fast server infrastructure — Low-latency execution reduces the gap between order submission and fill
- Regulatory oversight from Tier-1 authorities — FCA, ASIC, CySEC regulators enforce best-execution standards
Note that “no requote” does not mean “no slippage.” In an ECN model, orders fill at the best available current price — which may differ from your requested price if the market has moved. The distinction is that you always get a fill (with possible slippage) rather than a pause and a new price offer.
Requotes and Spread: The Full Cost Picture
Requotes, slippage, and spread are all components of your total execution cost. When evaluating a broker’s true cost structure, consider all three together:
A broker with very tight spreads but frequent requotes may deliver worse effective execution costs than a broker with slightly wider spreads and no requotes. The requote disruption itself has a cost — both in the time lost and in the tendency for the re-offered price to be worse than the original request.
You can compare zero spread brokers and compare fixed spread brokers while also considering their execution model — combining tight pricing with no-requote infrastructure is the optimal combination for most active traders.
Requotes and Regulation: Your Rights as a Trader
Under MiFID II in the European Union and FCA rules in the United Kingdom, brokers are required to demonstrate best execution — meaning they must take all reasonable steps to achieve the best possible result for their clients on every order. Systematic requoting that consistently disadvantages clients while advantaging the broker is a potential breach of these obligations.
If you believe your broker is using requotes in a manipulative manner, you can:
- File a complaint directly with the broker through their formal complaints procedure
- Escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service (in the UK) or relevant national regulator
- Report the behaviour to the FCA or other supervising authority
Choosing brokers regulated by major authorities means these protections are available to you. All brokers listed and reviewed at CompareBroker.io are regulated by recognised financial authorities, and our comparison tools make it straightforward to filter by regulatory body, execution model, and account type.
Practical Tips: Minimising Requote Exposure
Even with a market maker broker, there are techniques to reduce how often requotes affect your trading:
Use limit orders for all planned entries. Limit orders do not trigger requotes because they are queued orders waiting for a specific price, not instant execution requests. If you have the discipline to plan your entries in advance, limit orders eliminate requote exposure entirely on entry.
Set a price deviation tolerance. Platforms like MetaTrader 4 allow you to specify a maximum acceptable deviation from your requested price. If you set this to 3 pips, you are effectively pre-authorising slippage of up to 3 pips in either direction — turning potential requotes into automatic fills. Adjust this threshold based on the normal pip volatility of the pairs you trade.
Avoid market orders during news events. If your strategy does not specifically require news trading, removing market order entries around scheduled high-impact events eliminates the most requote-prone market conditions entirely.
Switch to an ECN broker. If requotes are a persistent problem, the most definitive solution is to move to a broker with genuine ECN/STP execution, where orders route to liquidity providers and fill at the best available current market price without broker intervention.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a requote in forex? A requote occurs when your broker cannot fill your order at the price you requested and instead offers you a new, revised price. Rather than executing immediately, the trade pauses and you must decide whether to accept the new terms.
Why do requotes happen? Requotes occur primarily in market maker execution models when prices move rapidly, the broker’s system cannot fill at the requested price without taking on unacceptable risk, or when the execution infrastructure is congested during high-volatility events.
Is a requote the same as slippage? No. Slippage means your order filled automatically at a different price than requested. A requote means the order did not fill at all — you were offered a new price to accept or reject. Both result from the gap between requested and available price, but they resolve differently.
How do I avoid requotes? Use limit orders, choose an ECN or STP broker with direct market access, set a price deviation tolerance on market orders in MetaTrader, and avoid placing market orders during high-impact news releases.
Are no-requote brokers always better? Generally yes for active traders, because no-requote ECN execution provides faster, more transparent fills. The trade-off is that ECN execution typically involves wider raw spreads plus commission, whereas market makers often offer tighter fixed spreads. For scalpers and news traders, no-requote execution is essential. For lower-frequency traders, the choice depends on the overall cost comparison.
Can requotes be a sign of broker manipulation? Asymmetric requoting — where requotes only occur when price has moved in the trader’s favour — can indicate deliberate execution interference. Regulated brokers are legally obligated to demonstrate best execution, and systematic manipulation of requotes would constitute a regulatory breach.
Conclusion
Requotes are one of the most disruptive execution events a forex trader can encounter — and they are not simply an unavoidable market reality. The frequency and pattern of requotes is directly shaped by your broker’s execution model, infrastructure quality, and regulatory obligations.
Understanding requotes means understanding that broker selection is not just about spreads and minimum deposits. It is about the mechanics of how your orders are handled at the moment of execution — in the milliseconds that determine whether your strategy functions as intended.
Choose a broker with transparent execution policies, genuine ECN or STP order routing, and Tier-1 regulatory oversight. Use the broker comparison tools at CompareBroker.io to evaluate brokers across execution model, regulatory status, spread type, and account features — so that your trading infrastructure supports your strategy rather than working against it.
