NEXT Investments, the Bedminster, N.J.-based exchange-traded fund consulting firm, filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer the world’s first U.S.-listed ETF based on the Nikkei 225, Japan’s equivalent to the S&P 500 benchmark of the biggest U.S. firms.

The proposed fund could end up being the Japan equivalent of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), the world’s first and largest exchange-traded fund that is now widely used by buy-and-hold investors and day traders alike. A number of Nikkei 225 ETFs exist, but they are available only to Japanese investors or those with foreign accounts. Also, they’re not denominated in dollars as the NEXT ETF will be.

The Nikkei 225 has globally been the premier index of Japanese stocks for the last 60 years. Many financial products are linked to the Nikkei 225, including investment trusts and index futures. They have been developed and are traded on financial exchanges worldwide.

On its Web site, NEXT said it is launching the planned ETF with Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., Ltd. and Nikkei Inc. The Nikkei index is sponsored by Nikkei Inc., a Japanese media company that publishes five newspapers and operates online news site, according to the regulatory filing. The company focuses on business and economic news and information.

Exemptive relief filings such as the one made by NEXT Investments grant ETF firms exception to sections of the Investment Act of 1940 and are just the first step in the path to launching ETFs. It often takes at least six to 12 months from the date of the initial filing for a company’s first ETF to hit the market.