A forex broker is a financial services company that provides traders access to a platform for buying and selling foreign currencies. Forex brokers act as intermediaries between banks, bringing buyers and sellers together for a commission paid by the initiator or by both parties. They offer prices from the banks where they have lines of credit and access to forex liquidity. Forex brokers can be part of larger financial companies that offer a range of investment options like shares, funds, and bonds, or they can be smaller companies or individuals that specialize in forex. Forex brokers fall into two main categories: dealing desk and no dealing desk brokers. Dealing desk brokers buy and sell currencies on behalf of traders, while no dealing desk brokers analyze currency prices from different financial institutions, such as banks, and pass the best one onto traders. Forex brokers handle only a small portion of the volume of the overall foreign exchange market.

To summarize, a forex broker is a financial intermediary that matches counterparties to a transaction without being a party to it. In forex, a broker is an agent or company that executes orders to buy and sell currencies for their clients.