Afaik selling order flow is illegal in Europe, you would be right that American brokers like RobinHood do it. T212 takes your securities lending income so it’s not a free platform.
FCA ‘Dear CEO’ letter on payment for order flow
On 13 December 2017, the FCA published a [‘Dear CEO’ letter]>(https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/correspondence/dear-ceo-letter-payment-for-order-flow.pdf) regarding the Payment for Order Flow (PFOF), which follows the publication of the FCA Market Watch 51 on PFOF in September 2016.
In the letter, the FCA expressed its view that the practice of brokers demanding ‘payments from counterparties as a condition for conducting client business with them substantially undermines a broker’s ability to act as a good agent’. It also repeated its concerns that PFOF arrangements are:
- Bad for markets
- Undermine the transparency and efficiency of price formation
- Inhibit competition; and
- Lead to poor outcomes for end clients
The FCA further stated that firms continuing to charge PFOF will be in breach of MiFID II standards and highlighted that action had to be taken in order to ensure compliance.
Source: https://www.dlapiper.com/en/uk/insights/publications/2018/04/finance-and-markets-global-insight-issue-14/mifid-ii-a-second-overhaul-of-europes-regulatory-framework/
(maybe this thread also would answer some of your questions: [SOLVED] Fractional Orders (almost) always execute at subpar prices?!)