Direct Market Access (DMA) is a service offered by some stockbrokers that allow private investors to buy and sell shares directly with other investors on the London Stock Exchange electronic order book.
Private investors have traditionally placed buy and sell orders with their brokers who normally execute these with specialist market makers known as Retail Service Providers (RSPs). What DMA means is that investors can now take control of their trades by placing buy and sell orders directly with other market participants on the order book.
Please note, you will still need to trade via a broker but through one that offers a DMA service. If your broker does not currently offer DMA, please contact them to find out their plans.
In short, DMA enables you to set your price inside the spread which is visible to the entire market and allows access to the UK’s deepest pool of liquidity where most trading takes place. DMA provides you with the greatest opportunity to trade at the best price possible.