Teck Poh Lai joined Citibank Singapore in April 1968 and had served through the ranks to become vice president and head of corporate banking division. During that time, he also undertook international assignments with Citibank in Jakarta, New York and London.
Mr Lai had also worked with Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) in January 1988 as executive vice president and division head of corporate banking. He moved on to other senior management positions in OCBC, including as head of information technology and central operations and risk management. He was head of group audit prior to retiring in April 2010.