Albany, N.Y. ? The Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a “formal inquiry” into conflicts of interests by Wall Street analysts, the SEC and New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said Thursday.

The inquiry will be conducted by the SEC, the New York Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers, Spitzer, the North American Securities Administrators Assn. and several states.

“We look forward to working with the SEC,” said Darren Dopp, a spokesman for Spitzer. “It doesn’t end our investigation. We will be working with them.”

SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt said the disclosures that resulted from Spitzer’s investigation, as well as practices uncovered by the SEC, the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers, “reinforced the commission’s conclusion that further inquiry is warranted.”

“We will give investors confidence that the same securities rules and protections apply no matter where they live or do business,” Pitt said.

Pitt also announced that the SEC will consider analyst rules proposed in February by the New York Stock Exchange and May 8 by the NASD. The proposals would address conflicts involving analysts.

Spitzer previously said he was working with the federal agency and they shared the same goal, but that the SEC wasn’t part of the investigation.

The attorney general met with SEC officials this week in Washington, D.C., in what his spokeswoman would only call a productive discussion. Spitzer unsuccessfully lobbied Congress on Wednesday for an amendment to an Enron-inspired bill that could address conflicts of interest by stock analysts nationwide.