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

TSE President Taizo Nishimuro was in New York for talks with NYSE Group Inc.’s chief executive, John Thain, about forging greater cooperation between the two exchanges.

Toru Onoda, a spokesman for the TSE, confirmed that the two exchanges completed negotiations in New York. The move comes as major bourses in the world race to find global partners and attract more investors and cooperation.

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. For the time being, the accord is just the latest maneuver made by the NYSE to become a truly global financial market. The alliance comes within weeks of the NYSE’s acquisition of Paris-based stock exchange operator Euronext NV, which was quickly followed by the purchase of a stake in India’s National Stock Market.

Meanwhile, the TSE has also been talking with the London Stock Exchange for cooperation, Onoda said, adding that the two exchanges are expected to reach an agreement in the near future. Nishimuro first brought up the idea of an alliance between New York and Tokyo when the NYSE announced it would acquire Euronext, which operates five regional exchanges in Europe.

Both Nishimuro and Thain spoke Tuesday at the Japan Society in New York, but neither confirmed completion of a cooperation agreement.

In his speech, Nishimuro said that “global alliances between stock exchanges are inevitable.”

The two men are scheduled to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. It extends a long-time friendship between the two stock exchange leaders that began in 2001 when both served on a joint-commission to extend Japanese and American business relations — a meeting that instigated a fast friendship. “It is important that the leaders of the two largest stock exchanges have a strong relationship — and we do,” Thain said during his speech at the Japan Society. Both are known to have regular phone conversations about the status of global stock markets, and regularly meet when they’re in the same city.

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