A request for quote, commonly abbreviated as RFQ, is a trading protocol in which an institution asks one or more liquidity providers to submit a price for a specific transaction. Unlike continuous exchange trading, where orders are placed into a public order book and matched automatically, an RFQ is initiated by the requester and directed to selected counterparties who each respond with a quoted price. The requester then decides whether to trade and, if multiple quotes were requested, which provider to trade with.
RFQs sit alongside continuous electronic quoting rather than replacing it. Market makers like Optiver quote the same ETFs and options continuously on-screen as well, but an RFQ lets an institution pull a firm, sized price for a specific transaction without relying on what is visible at that moment on the order book. RFQs are most established in ETF trading, where they account for a significant share of institutional off-screen flow, and are also widely used for larger options trades and multi-leg structures.
