Method and apparatus for message flow and transaction queue management

A system including:

• a gateway including a processor,
• wherein the gateway is configured to determine that a first limit for transmitting transaction messages from a first entity to an exchange over a communication link between the gateway and the exchange has been reached, wherein the first entity is one of a plurality of entities divided into one or more groups, wherein each entity in the plurality of entities is associated with a user, a tradeable object, and at least one limit, wherein the first entity is associated with the first limit, wherein the first limit is a number of transactions that are in-flight;
• wherein the gateway is configured to receive a first transaction message after determining that the first limit has been reached, wherein the first transaction message is of a first type, is from the first entity, and includes a first transaction identification parameter;
• wherein the gateway is configured to determine that the first limit associated with the first entity would be exceeded by transmitting the first transaction message to the exchange over the communication link;
• wherein the gateway is configured to determine that a second transaction message in a transaction message queue is related to the first transaction message, wherein the second transaction message is of a second type, is from the first entity, and includes a second transaction identification parameter, wherein the second transaction message is determined to be related to the first transaction message based on the first transaction identification parameter and the second transaction identification parameter being the same;
• and
• wherein the gateway is configured to update the transaction message queue based on the first type of the first transaction message and the second type of the related second transaction message.