Established in 1984, the Central Bank of Samoa was first headed by Mr. W.E. Davies; (seconded from the Reserve Bank of Australia) under International Monetary Fund funding. Mr. Davies left  Samoa in early 1987 to be replaced by Mr. J.A. Howard of the Bank of England, also funded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mr. Scanlan joined the Central Bank (from Treasury) in late 1984, as Assistant Manager of the Bank's International Department. Prior to that, he was a Project Officer for the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation (SPEC), now the Forum Secretariat, in Suva Fiji from 1981-1984.

Mr. Scanlan  took over (from a Pakistani national) as Manager of the International Department in 1987 and was appointed to the post of Deputy Chief Executive in November 1988.

In April 1989, Mr. Papali'i T.  Scanlan became the first Samoan to be appointed as Chief Executive of the Central Bank of Samoa on the completion of Mr. Howard's contract. And, following amendment of the Central Bank Act 1984, Mr Scanlan became Governor and Chairman of the Bank's Board in 2001.  

Now Mr. Scanlan has served with the Central Bank of Samoa for 18 years with 14 years as Chief Executive of the Bank.  

Mr. Scanlan graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mr. Scanlan is married with 6 children.  His main hobbies are  tennis, golf and rugby.