Bold Strokes

Standard Chartered Bank Philippines CEO Mike Samson shares how creative inclinations can be the key to successful banking

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The biggest gift that his parents gave him was his 27-year international banking career. “I'm an only child”, Mike Samson shares, “but not once did they say ‘come home’.” Of those years abroad, he spent 23 of them in Singapore, two in the United States and two in Australia. When he took the reins as the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Philippines, it was also an opportunity to oversee a much larger franchise base—a career move he could not turn down.

Outside work, Samson cultivates a deep appreciation for the arts. He was active in the Singapore arts community and was on the Board of the Singapore Art Museum, and the Governing Council of the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art. He is especially fond of two pieces in his collection that resonate with him: Horse by Kawayan de Guia, a sculpture made entirely of wood and celluloid film strips, and