From his office in New York City, John Hilley can see the future of equity trading. As chairman and chief executive of Nasdaq International, the subsidiary of the world's largest stock exchange, he is busy turning the vision of a 24-hour electronic market for shares in the world's largest companies into reality.

Over the past seven months, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which operates the Nasdaq stock market, has built alliances with major bourses around the world. The effort led in early May to the group's participation in iX, the exchange to be created from the merger of stock markets in London and Frankfurt.