What is a Broker? A broker is an intermediary — someone who connects buyers and sellers and facilitates a transaction between them. Rather than buying or selling on their own behalf, brokers earn a fee or commission for matching the two sides of a deal. In financial markets, brokers operate across many asset types: currencies (FX), interest rates, bonds, equities, commodities, and more. They add value by: Finding counterparties — locating who wants to buy what someone else wants to sell Price discovery — helping establish what a fair market price is Creating liquidity — making it easier to trade, especially in complex or less-standardised markets Providing expertise — giving clients market intelligence and context There are different kinds of brokers. A retail broker connects everyday investors to markets (think a stockbroker). An interdealer broker (IDB) sits between large financial institutions — banks, hedge funds, asset managers — helping them trade with each other in wholesale markets. Who is TP ICAP? TP ICAP connects buyers and sellers in global financial, energy, and commodities markets, and is the world's leading wholesale market intermediary. Tpicap It's specifically an interdealer broker — meaning its clients are the big players: banks, pension funds, hedge funds, energy companies, and central banks. The company was founded in 1971 as a foreign exchange broker trading as Tullett & Riley, and took its current form after acquiring ICAP's global broking business in 2016. Its key businesses today include: Global Broking (its core) — voice and electronic broking across rates, credit, FX, and equities Energy & Commodities — covering oil, gas, and power markets Liquidnet — an electronic trading platform for institutional investors Parameta Solutions — data and analytics derived from all that trading activity It operates across more than 60 offices in 28 countries, and has been named "World's Best FX Broker" by Euromoney for two consecutive years. Financially, it's doing well: TP ICAP recently reported its strongest annual results on record, with full-year revenue hitting $3.15 billion