Mr. Arthur Lai was the founder of ChinTung Financial Group in 1982 which grew from a small institutional broking firm into one of the largest investment banks in South East Asia before the group was acquired by Standard Chartered Bank in 1991. After the acquisition, ChinTung continued to enjoy the dominating position in institutional distribution until his departure and the company was renamed as Standard Chartered Securities Ltd. Mr. Lai started his career as an auditor at Touche Ross & Co in Chicago before he joined Cazenove & Co (now JP Morgan Cazenove), London as an investment analyst in 1978.

Mr. Lai was known for his ability in structuring M&A transactions and in aligning the interest of Asia capital markets with that of international players during the 1980s.