Bucketing

A situation where, in an attempt to make a short-term profit, a broker confirms an order to a client without actually executing it. If the eventual price that the order is executed at is higher than the price available when the order was submitted, the customer simply pays the higher price. On the other hand, if the execution price is lower than the price available when the order was submitted, the customer pays the higher price and the brokerage firm pockets the difference. It also means directly or indirectly taking the opposite side of client’s order into the brokers own account or into an account in which the broker has interest, without open and competitive execution of the order on an exchange.