Stock exchanges announce cooperation agreement

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The respective leaders of the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange said Wednesday that the two exchanges have reached a non-exclusive agreement to cooperate in areas such as financial products, mutual listings, and technology. The deal, which increases the NYSEs worldwide influence, could eventually lead to a merger between the two exchanges after the TSE becomes a publicly traded company in 2009.No details were announced as to what forms the cooperation agreement would take, but the Chief Executive of the New York exchange said that the deal would make it easier to trade between the two exchanges, eventually possibly letting US investors to make trades around the clock. What was revealed was that the two exchanges will set up working groups to look at issues such as technology and trading, infrastructure, regulation governance of listed companies, and market data products. They will also look at ways that companies listed on one exchange could better access investors from the other exchange.The new cooperation agreement comes at a time when more and more consolidation is taking place among stock exchanges worldwide. NYSE, for example, recently acquired the Paris-based Euronext as well as leading a consortium that has purchased 20 percent of the National Stock Exchange, based in Mumbai.