Tokyo Stock Exchange President Mitsuhide Yamaguchi on Tuesday welcomed the launch of Nasdaq Japan, a stock exchange for new ventures that rivals the TSE's Mothers stock market.

Yamaguchi said the new exchange would "pave the way for startups to raise funds for their operations."

At the same time as welcoming the news, Yamaguchi said the TSE would do its best to ensure Mothers survives the competition.

Nasdaq Japan was established by the U.S. National Association of Securities Dealers, Softbank Corp. and the Osaka Securities Exchange.

"Both Nasdaq Japan and the TSE's Mothers were established to support startups, and I hope we will compete with each other in a healthy way," he said. "It is natural to strive to win the competition."

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi said the TSE board had approved Masaaki Tsuchida, a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat, as his successor earlier in the day.

Tsuchida will be the sixth successive former Finance Ministry bureaucrat to assume the TSE presidency, continuing a trend that has been criticized in some quarters.

But Yamaguchi said Tsuchida's background as a Finance Ministry official "did not matter" and that his appointment was "the best decision."

The TSE's general meeting of member brokerage houses will formally approve Tsuchida's appointment May 25.