TOKYO: Negotiations for an alliance between the Tokyo and New York stock exchanges have been completed, Japan’s main bourse said Wednesday.

An announcement of the results of the talks was to be made at a joint news conference later Wednesday in New York, the Tokyo Stock Exchange said in a statement.

The TSE’s president, Taizo Nishimuro, was in New York for talks with the NYSE Group’s chief executive, John Thain, about forging more expansive cooperation between the two exchanges.

Toru Onoda, a spokesman for the TSE, confirmed Tuesday that the two bourses completed negotiations.

The move comes as major exchanges in the world race to find partners and attract more investors.

The agreement will allow both exchanges to cooperate on everything from joint stock listings, technology, and the development of new products. Further, it sets into motion the possibility of a true combination once Japan’s biggest stock exchange becomes a public company in 2009.

The alliance comes within weeks of the NYSE’s acquisition of the Paris-based stock exchange operator Euronext NV, which was quickly followed by the purchase of a stake in India’s National Stock Market.