An firm who solicits futures and options orders, commodity customers, or customer funds.  A futures brokerage is often referred to as a commodity brokerage; it can be either a futures commission merchant (FCM), or an Introducing Broker (IB).  The terms commodity broker, and futures broker, are synonymous.  Such a commodity broker is also an options broker (options on futures)  An FCM is a brokerage firm registered with the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) that has the ability to hold margin funds for clients and facilitate the clearing of trades with futures exchanges. An Introducing Broker is a firml that solicits and accepts futures orders from customers but does not accept money, securities or property from the customer. An IB must be registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and must carry all of its accounts through a futures commission merchant on a fully disclosed basis.