HONG KONG, July 3 (Reuters) - The new chief executive of Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Ltd, Nicolas Aguzin has made his first management changes since joining the company in late May, a spokesman confirmed on Saturday.

The HKEX's management committee will be split into two groups, with eight senior managers reporting directly to Aguzin and the rest to chief operating officer Calvin Tai, the official said.

A new markets unit will be overseen by Wilfred Yiu and Glenda So and an operations unit headed by Tai, he added.

The changes were first reported by Bloomberg News.

Aguzin became chief executive on May 24, after being hired from JPMorgan Chase & Co, replacing former long-serving head Charles Li.

Soon after starting the job, Aguzin said he did not envisage major changes in HKEX's strategy away from being closely tied to China.

In a statement, the HKEX said the internal organizational changes would help align the company more closely to customers.

"These organisational changes build on the group's key strengths and reinforce HKEX's capabilities at the heart of one of the world's premier international financial centres," it said.

Hong Kong was the third most popular IPO market in the world for the first half of 2021, Refinitiv data shows, with $15.8 billion worth of new listings, up from $4.5 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Hong Kong accounted for 9% of global IPO listings in the first six months of the year, third behind the Nasdaq, with 24.2%, and the New York Stock Exchange, with 13.5%, the data showed. (Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)