Subsequent Career
In 1864, Lay resigned from the diplomatic service and returned to England where he engaged in financial affairs.
In December 1869, Lay was hired as an foreign advisor by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to assist in raising its first foreign loan, for 1 million pound sterling which was needed to finance the construction of Japan's first railways and telegraph lines. Having led the Japanese government to believe that he would raise the money through private investors, Lay instead floated Japanese sovereign bonds on the London Stock Exchange, arranging to have the interest on the bonds credited to his private accounts. When the Japanese government discovered the fraud, they cancelled his contract and appointed the British Oriental Bank in his place.
Two of Lay's brothers (Walter Thurlow Lay (1840–1917), Amoy Lay (1846–1911), two of his nephews (William George Lay (1862–1921), son of W.H. Lay, and Harry Lay (1894-?), son of Amoy Lay), and one grandnephew (Arthur Croall Hyde Lay (1900-) also served in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service.
Read more about this topic: Horatio Nelson Lay
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