The two firms hope to complete the merger within a year. When ratified, the deal will rocket the new firm to the top of the global fee income rankings, dwarfing current leaders Andersen Worldwide by more than US$2bn. Coopers/PW last year produced fees of US$11.8bn between them, with Andersens notching up US$9.5bn. Detailed talks between the two firms were conducted amidst tight secrecy during the summer. The new firm, which has yet to be named, will be chaired by Coopers & Lybrand International's chairman Nicholas Moore, while PW's chief executive James Schiro will become CEO. The firm's UK leaders, Peter Smith of Coopers and Ian Brindle of PW, have yet to decide their roles, but told Accountancy Age they were treating the merger as 'one of equals', despite a massive disparity in their respective fee incomes. Coopers, ranked fourth in the world, raked in almost US$3bn more than PW, ranked sixth, last year. But the new venture has several major hurdles to overcome before completion. The firms' 8,500 partners around the world must approve the merger, while it is likely that regulatory authorities will also examine the deal closely. See Accountancy Age on 25 September for the detailed analysis