2 Minute Read by Reuters Staff (Reuters) – SHANGHAI, July 2 (Reuters) – The chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) said on Friday that the bourse operator is “working closely” with regulators on a southerly leg of the Bond Connect initiative to increase Chinese investors’ access to global bond markets. Nicolas Aguzin’s remarks came after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam indicated in a speech to the British Chamber of Commerce on June 17 that she was looking forward to the “early implementation” of the southbound Bond Connect. In his remarks, Aguzin made no mention of a debut date for the program. Bond Connect’s northbound leg, which began in July 2017, increased global investors’ access to China’s onshore bond market, which is the world’s second-largest. At the end of May, foreign ownership of Chinese bonds reached a new high of 3.68 trillion yuan ($568.45 billion). China Central Depository and Clearing Co and the Shanghai Clearing House did not have June statistics available on Friday. Bond Connect Company Ltd, a joint venture between HKEX and the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, manages the Bond Connect program. (1 US dollar = 6.4738 Chinese yuan) (Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai contributed reporting; Muralikumar Anantharaman edited the piece.)/n
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