SHANGHAI - Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is "working closely" with regulators on a southbound leg of the Bond Connect program to expand Chinese mainland investors' access to global bond markets, the bourse operator's chief executive said on Friday.

Nicolas Aguzin's comments, made in a speech to an online summit, come after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she looked forward to the "early implementation" of the southbound Bond Connect in a speech to the British Chamber of Commerce on June 17.

The northbound leg of the Bond Connect program, launched in July 2017, expanded global investors' access to the mainland's onshore bond market, the world's second-largest

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Aguzin did not provide a timeline for the launch of the program in his speech.

The northbound leg of Bond Connect, launched in July 2017, expanded global investors' access to the mainland's onshore bond market, the world's second-largest.

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Foreign holdings of mainland bonds stood at a record 3.68 trillion yuan (US$568.45 billion) at the end of May.

June data was not yet available on Friday from China Central Depository and Clearing Co and the Shanghai Clearing House.

The Bond Connect program is operated by Bond Connect Company Ltd, a joint venture between HKEX and the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.