Press releases 2007

23 February 2007

London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.

Sign Co-operation Agreement

London, February 23, 2007 – The London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. today announced details of an agreement aimed at enhancing their international presence through co-operation on access arrangements and the development of new products. This is the first time that the two exchanges have agreed to work together, and it is expected that the co-operation will bring benefits for investors, issuers and member firms.

A Task Force composed of senior staff from both exchanges, will shortly begin a series of regular meetings to consider development opportunities in several key areas and identify the areas in which the London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange will work together over the long term. Areas for immediate consideration include:

• The operation and regulation of markets for growth companies.
• The creation and promotion of new jointly traded products.
• Co-operative schemes to encourage access by member firms to each other’s markets with the eventual aim of providing a round-the-clock trading environment.

In addition, the exchanges will share information on technology, as they both deliver next generation systems to their markets.

Chris Gibson-Smith, Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, said:

“The Tokyo Stock Exchange is an immensely important global market, and we see our co-operation agreement with it as an exciting opportunity to broaden the scope of the services that we are able to offer issuers, investors and member firms.”

Taizo Nishimuro, President & CEO of Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. said:

“Taking into consideration the environment surrounding market operators, it is critical for us to explore the possibility for satisfying exchange’s various stakeholders. In this context, Tokyo Stock Exchange is delighted to commence talks with London Stock Exchange, one of the world's leading exchanges.”

A live webcast of a press briefing about the co-operation agreement is available here.

About London Stock Exchange plc:
The London Stock Exchange is the world’s premier international equity exchange and a leading provider of services that facilitate the raising of capital and the trading of shares.

The London Stock Exchange is the most international equities exchange in the world and Europe's largest pool of liquidity. By the end of 2006, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on the London Stock Exchange’s markets amounted to £4.4 trillion, with £6.7 trillion of equity business transacted over the year.

The London Stock Exchange is a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and is supervised by the Financial Services Authority.

About Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.:
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. is the premier exchange for Japanese cash equities and derivative products from the perspective of investors both in Japan and abroad. In 2006, stock trading volume on TSE reached 502 billion shares. This has positioned TSE as the central market of Japan. Also in 2006, TSE recorded an average daily trading volume of 2,026.0 million shares, and daily average trading value of JPY 2,716.7 billion. At the end of December 2006, the number of listed companies was 2,416, with a market capitalization reaching JPY 549.7 trillion. In addition to its core Japanese equity market, TSE provides markets for derivatives products such as long-term Japanese government bond futures and TOPIX index futures. Japanese Government Bond (JGB) futures trading, the cornerstone of TSE’s fixed income derivatives market and the benchmark of the Japanese bond market, continues to thrive on investor demand from across the globe. The JGB futures contract is one of the most active long-term interest rate futures contracts in the world, with its annual trading volume in 2006 reaching 12,049 thousand contracts. The TOPIX futures contract, which is actively traded by institutional investors, is the leading stock index futures product in Japan, with the largest open interest among Japanese stock index futures products. The trading volume in 2006 rose to 14,907 thousand contracts in 2006, an increase of about 16.5% over 2005. With respect to these cash and derivative products, the TSE, as a self regulatory organization, continuously makes every effort to provide a fair, transparent, and efficient market.

For more information on Tokyo Stock Exchange, go to: www.tse.or.jp/english/index.shtml  


Media Contact

For London Stock Exchange
John Wallace / Catherine Mattison
+ 44 (0)20 7797 1222
newsroom@londonstockexchange.com  


For Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.
Mitsuo MIWA, Media Relations
81-3-3665-1051
kohou@tse.or.jp  
kohou@tse.or.jp