<s>
MT4	B-Application
ECN	I-Application
Bridge	I-Application
is	O
a	O
technology	O
that	O
allows	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
access	O
interbank	O
foreign	O
exchange	O
market	O
through	O
the	O
MetaTrader	B-Application
4	I-Application
(	O
MT4	B-Application
)	O
electronic	O
trading	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MT4	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
to	O
allow	O
trading	O
between	O
a	O
broker	O
and	O
its	O
clients	O
and	O
so	O
did	O
not	O
provide	O
for	O
passing	O
orders	O
through	O
to	O
wholesale	O
forex	O
market	O
via	O
electronic	O
communication	O
networks	O
(	O
ECNs	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
third	O
party	O
software	O
companies	O
developed	O
Straight-through	O
processing	O
bridging	O
software	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
MT4	B-Application
server	O
to	O
pass	O
orders	O
placed	O
by	O
clients	O
directly	O
to	O
an	O
ECN	O
and	O
feed	O
trade	O
confirmations	O
back	O
automatically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MetaTrader4	O
trading	O
platform	O
was	O
designed	O
for	O
dealing	O
desk	O
brokers	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
popularity	O
of	O
the	O
trading	O
platform	O
meant	O
that	O
retail	O
forex	O
traders	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
brokers	O
wanted	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
trade	O
directly	O
on	O
the	O
interbank	O
foreign	O
exchange	O
market	O
via	O
MT4	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
software	O
companies	O
attempted	O
to	O
develop	O
bridging	O
technology	O
that	O
allowed	O
the	O
broker	O
to	O
connect	O
the	O
MT4	B-Application
server	O
to	O
an	O
ECN	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
practical	O
solution	O
to	O
bridging	O
MT4	B-Application
and	O
ECN	O
appeared	O
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
