What Is a Requote in Forex Trading?
A requote in forex trading occurs when a broker is unable to execute an order at the price you requested and offers you a new price instead. Rather than filling your trade at the original price, the broker presents a revised price and asks you to confirm whether you want to proceed at the new level.
Requotes were more common in the early years of retail forex trading and remain a point of frustration for traders when they occur, particularly around fast-moving markets and news events.
How a Requote Happens
When you place a market order in forex, you are requesting to buy or sell at the current market price. Between the moment you click to execute and the moment the order reaches the broker’s system, the price may have moved. In fast markets, this can happen in fractions of a second.
If the broker’s execution system cannot fill the order at the price you originally saw, it sends back a requote, presenting the current available price and asking if you accept it. You then have the option to accept the new price and proceed with the trade, or decline and wait for another opportunity.
The new price offered in a requote is typically worse than the original price, meaning you would be entering the trade at a less favourable level than intended.
Why Requotes Occur
Requotes are most commonly associated with market maker brokers, where the broker is taking the other side of client trades rather than routing them to an external liquidity pool.
In this model, the broker needs to manage its own exposure and may not always be willing or able to fill every order at the displayed price, particularly when prices are moving quickly. The requote gives the broker an opportunity to adjust the fill price to a level that reflects where the market actually is at the moment of execution.
In contrast, ECN and STP brokers route orders directly to external liquidity providers and are more likely to use a no-requote execution model. In these environments, orders are filled at the best available price from the liquidity pool, which may still involve some slippage but does not involve the requote dialogue.
Requotes vs Slippage
Requotes and slippage are both forms of price deviation from the intended entry or exit level, but they work differently.
A requote presents you with a new price and asks for your confirmation before proceeding. You have the option to decline. Slippage, by contrast, occurs without a requote dialogue. Your order is filled, but at a different price from the one you intended, without any confirmation step.
Both can result in a worse-than-expected entry or exit price. The practical difference is that a requote gives you the choice of whether to accept the new price, while slippage happens automatically.
Requotes and News Trading
Requotes are particularly associated with news trading, where traders attempt to enter positions immediately after major economic data releases. During these moments, prices can move extremely quickly, and the gap between the price displayed when a trader clicks and the price at which the order can actually be filled can be substantial.
Some brokers explicitly state that they do not guarantee execution at the quoted price around major news events. Others use requotes as their mechanism for managing this price uncertainty. For traders whose strategies rely on entering the market immediately after news releases, the presence or absence of requotes is an important consideration when evaluating a broker.
How to Reduce the Impact of Requotes
Choosing a broker with a no-requote execution policy and an ECN or STP structure reduces the likelihood of experiencing requotes. These brokers route orders to external liquidity and fill at the best available price without the requote dialogue, though slippage can still occur.
Avoiding market orders during very high volatility periods, such as immediately around major news releases, reduces the chance of encountering requotes or significant slippage. Limit orders, which only fill at a specified price or better, cannot be requoted because they only execute if the market reaches the exact level specified.
Understanding your broker’s execution policy and how they handle fast markets is part of evaluating whether a broker is suitable for your trading style.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a requote in forex? A requote occurs when a broker cannot fill your order at the price you requested and offers a new price instead. You are asked to confirm whether you want to proceed at the revised price, which is typically less favourable than the original.
Why do requotes happen? Requotes happen when prices move between the moment you submit an order and the moment it reaches the broker’s execution system. They are most associated with market maker brokers who need to manage their own exposure and may not always be able to fill orders at the displayed price.
Are requotes the same as slippage? No. A requote presents you with a new price and requires your confirmation before the order is filled. Slippage fills your order automatically at a different price without a confirmation step. Both can result in worse-than-expected execution, but they work differently.
How can I avoid requotes in forex? Choosing a broker with an ECN or STP execution model and a no-requote policy reduces the likelihood of requotes. Avoiding market orders during major news events and using limit orders where possible also reduces exposure to requote situations.
Do ECN brokers requote? ECN brokers typically do not requote because they route orders directly to external liquidity providers and fill at the best available price. Slippage can still occur in fast markets, but the requote dialogue is not part of the execution model.
Can I reject a requote? Yes. When a requote is presented, you have the option to accept the new price and proceed with the trade or decline and cancel the order. Declining a requote means your position is not opened at that time.
Are requotes more common during news events? Yes. News events cause rapid price movements that increase the gap between the displayed price and the available fill price. Requotes are significantly more common during and immediately after major economic data releases and central bank announcements.