Charting the course

Mr Kenneth Lai

Global Markets



Mr Kenneth Lai was appointed Head of Global Markets in October 2020. He has global responsibility for OCBC’s financial market businesses and asset liability management in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China and seven other overseas centres.

Mr Lai joined OCBC in February 2012 as Head of Global Markets International. Since 2015, he has also been responsible for the Bank’s Asset and Liability Management (ALM) globally. He was appointed Group Managing Director in May 2019. Mr Lai has over 34 years of experience in different functions across trading, sales and asset liability management and across different countries in Asia. Currently, he serves on the Boards of OCBC Securities, Clearing and Payment Services Pte Ltd (CAPS) and Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA). Mr Lai also serves on Great Eastern Group’s Asset/Liability Committee and Investment Committee. He is a member of the Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee (SFEMC), Chairman of the SFEMC Manpower Development Sub-Committee, member of the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF) Standards Committee, Chairman of the IBF’s Capital and Financial Markets Workgroup, Chairman of IBF Financial Markets Regulations & Practices Examination Board, and member of the ABS Standing Committee on Financial Market and Benchmark Co Oversight Committee.

Before joining OCBC, he was the Head of Financial Markets at Ta Chong Bank in Taiwan and has held several key appointments with ABN AMRO Bank. He started his career at Bankers Trust Company. Mr Lai holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and is an IBF Fellow.