Best Execution in Practice for Dealers: Order Routing, Slippage & Monitoring (Self Paced) [SP0310]
Apply MiFID II best execution principles to real dealing decisions, order routing, execution costs and slippage monitoring.
A practical self-paced course designed for dealers and execution professionals who need to assess trading outcomes, make defensible routing decisions and demonstrate compliance with best execution obligations. ✓ Apply best execution requirements to daily dealing and order-routing decisions. ✓ Analyse total consideration, execution likelihood, slippage and OTC price fairness. ✓ Strengthen dealer-level documentation, exception handling and execution-quality monitoring.This practical 2-CPD self-paced course equips dealers and trading professionals with the knowledge to apply MiFID II best execution requirements to real-world trading decisions. Participants will master essential dealing principles — from client order handling, execution venue selection and total consideration calculations to slippage analysis, OTC price-fairness assessments and execution-quality monitoring. Designed for dealers, execution traders, dealing supervisors and compliance professionals, this course bridges the gap between regulatory obligations and daily trading operations, supporting informed order-routing decisions, effective exception management and defensible execution records.
Table of Contents
- About the Course
- Why Take This Best Execution in Practice for Dealers?
- Key Learning Objectives
- Course Curriculum
- Meet the Trainer
- FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
- Fees & Registration Details
About the Course
Best execution is a fundamental responsibility for dealers and trading personnel involved in executing client orders under MiFID II.
Investment firms must take all sufficient steps to obtain the best possible result for clients, considering relevant execution factors such as price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size and the nature of the order.
For dealers, applying these requirements involves more than choosing the lowest quoted price. Decisions must account for client instructions, execution costs, market conditions, available liquidity and the likelihood of achieving the intended outcome.
This practical self-paced course focuses on how MiFID II best execution principles are applied at the point of trade.
Participants follow the complete order journey, from capturing client instructions and selecting execution destinations to evaluating fills, calculating total consideration, measuring slippage and documenting execution outcomes.
The course examines dealer-level responsibilities for retail and professional clients and addresses practical considerations involving CFDs, FX and OTC transactions.
Through worked calculations, execution scenarios and decision-making exercises, learners develop a clearer understanding of how to make consistent, evidence-based execution decisions and recognise situations requiring further investigation or escalation.
How Dealers Apply Best Execution to Order Routing and Slippage
Effective dealing requires a structured approach to selecting execution destinations and evaluating the resulting trading outcomes.
For retail clients, total consideration is a central measure, incorporating the execution price and costs directly related to the transaction.
Dealers must also consider whether an apparently favourable price is realistically available for the required order size and whether execution is likely to be completed.
Slippage analysis provides an additional mechanism for reviewing execution outcomes against appropriate benchmarks.
When execution outcomes differ materially from expectations, dealers should assess relevant market conditions, available evidence and potential operational weaknesses.
The objective is to support decisions that are both commercially appropriate for the client and defensible from a regulatory perspective.
Why Take This Best Execution in Practice for Dealers?
Best execution decisions are often made under changing market conditions, where price, liquidity, speed and execution likelihood must be considered together.
Dealers must make timely decisions while ensuring that the resulting execution outcomes are consistent with client instructions, applicable regulatory requirements and the firm’s execution arrangements.
This course helps you:
Apply best execution in daily dealing
Translate MiFID II requirements into practical order-routing and execution decisions.
Make informed venue selections
Compare execution alternatives using total consideration, liquidity, execution likelihood and relevant market conditions. To understand the firm-level policy and governance framework that sits above dealer routing decisions, review our companion course Best Execution & Order Handling: Monitoring, Governance & Evidence (SP0309).
Understand slippage and execution quality
Use benchmarks and execution analytics to evaluate trading outcomes.
Strengthen OTC pricing practices
Apply price-fairness principles to CFDs, FX and other OTC transactions. While managing trading mechanics, front-office staff must also detect potential order-book abuse; explore our specialized module Market Abuse & Dealing Desk Behaviour (SP0307).
Improve documentation and exception handling
Identify unusual execution outcomes, escalate concerns and maintain reliable records supporting dealer decisions. For senior leaders overseeing overall conduct frameworks, see our Board Governance, Conduct & Digital Resilience for Cyprus Investment Firms (SP0308) course.
For interactive group training or team-wide live learning, explore our live workshop Best Execution & Product Governance: Compliance Essentials for Financial Services (H1059), or browse the full range of modules in our Financial Regulation Self-Paced Courses section.
Build practical skills that support more consistent execution decisions, effective monitoring and stronger MiFID II compliance.
Key Learning Objectives
By completing this course, participants will be able to:
Explain how MiFID II best execution requirements apply at the point of execution.
Evaluate available venues, client instructions and execution factors.
Compare execution alternatives using relevant price and cost information.
Understand slippage, benchmarks and the interpretation of execution outcomes.
Recognise relevant pricing evidence for CFDs, FX and other OTC transactions.
Identify unusual outcomes, support escalation and maintain defensible execution records.
Course Curriculum
- MiFID II Article 27 and relevant regulatory requirements
- Best execution factors
- Retail and professional client considerations
- Principal versus agency execution
- Specific client instructions
- Documenting dealer decisions
- Practical best execution scenarios
- Capturing and timestamping client orders
- Verifying client categorisation and permissions
- Understanding order characteristics
- Selecting appropriate execution destinations
- Capturing fills, partial fills and rejections
- Distinguishing execution from RTO
- Maintaining order-routing evidence
- Total consideration and execution costs
- Calculating all-in execution outcomes
- Comparing execution venues
- Assessing liquidity and fill likelihood
- Execution priorities for professional clients
- Justifying alternative execution decisions
- Worked trading and cost-comparison examples
- Understanding execution slippage
- Selecting appropriate reference prices
- Comparing actual and expected outcomes
- Favourable and adverse slippage
- Identifying unusual execution patterns
- Interpreting execution-quality data
- Documenting monitoring conclusions
- Characteristics of OTC execution
- CFD and FX pricing considerations
- Assessing price fairness
- Reviewing market benchmarks and comparable prices
- Evaluating spreads and execution costs
- Identifying pricing anomalies
- Maintaining supporting pricing evidence
- Identifying adverse execution outcomes
- Recognising unusual slippage and routing exceptions
- Investigating execution discrepancies
- Escalation procedures and responsibilities
- Preserving transaction records and market evidence
- Documenting findings and corrective actions
- Supporting compliance monitoring and internal audit
- Applying best execution principles to a practical dealing scenario
- Evaluating client instructions and execution alternatives
- Comparing price, costs, liquidity and execution likelihood
- Analysing slippage and OTC price fairness
- Identifying and escalating exceptions
- Preparing an evidence-based execution conclusion
- Understanding future developments affecting dealing controls
Meet the Trainer
Fees & Registration Details
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
Best execution requires investment firms executing client orders to take all sufficient steps to obtain the best possible result for clients. Dealers apply these requirements by considering relevant execution factors and making appropriate, documented execution decisions.
Order execution rules and dealing desk operations are supervised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under regulatory guidance and technical standards established by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
No. Execution costs, available liquidity, order size, likelihood of execution and other relevant factors can affect the overall outcome for the client.
Slippage is the difference between an execution price and an appropriate reference or benchmark price. Monitoring slippage can help firms evaluate execution quality and identify unusual outcomes.
Yes. It includes worked examples involving total consideration, execution venue comparisons, pricing and execution analysis.
Yes. A dedicated module examines CFD, FX and OTC price-fairness considerations, including market evidence and execution-quality monitoring.
This course focuses on dealer-level execution decisions and practical trading processes. The Monitoring, Governance & Evidence course focuses on wider execution-policy governance, compliance monitoring and regulatory oversight.
It is relevant to professionals developing their understanding of dealer responsibilities and to experienced dealing personnel seeking to strengthen their best execution practices.
The course is allocated 2 CPD credits, subject to the applicable completion requirements.