The Broker Bench
Independent research on trading platforms, brokers and prop firms — tested against a published checklist.
Forex market hours: when each session opens and closes
The four sessions in UTC, why three of them move twice a year and Tokyo never does, and which overlap actually carries the volume.
Verified 5 August 2026ECN, STP and market maker: how your broker actually makes money
Three execution models, one question that matters — does the broker profit when you lose? And why the label on the account page rarely settles it.
Verified 5 August 2026We check trading platforms against one published checklist — the same for every company, whether or not it advertises with us. Where something could not be confirmed, the page says so.
Leverage limits by regulator: why the same broker offers 30:1 here and 500:1 there
The caps in the EU, UK, Australia and the US — and what it means when a broker offers you far more than any of them allow.
Verified 5 August 2026MT4 vs MT5: what actually differs, and which one you should ask for
MetaQuotes stopped selling new MT4 licences, but MT4 is still running at dozens of brokers. Here is what separates the two platforms in practice.
Verified 5 August 2026Broker reviews
Licences checked in the regulator's own register, costs recorded with the date they were taken.
Prop firms
Evaluation rules, payout terms and what happens when a firm quietly changes them.
Safety checks
Is this platform a scam? The same questions asked of every company, in the same order.
In preparation
First broker reviews are published only once regulatory status has been verified in the regulator's own register. Nothing here is republished from a company's marketing material.