The London Stock Exchange this morning formalised a co-operation agreement with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as the chief executive of the Japanese bourse emphasised his desire to emulate the UK secondary market's success.

Taizo Nishimuro, chief executive and president of the TSE, said today in a London press conference that the LSE's Alternative Investment Market had established itself as one of the fastest growing and most active markets in the world, and that the Tokyo exchange would study it closely.