Diana Senanayake (IQ-EQ): Navigating Regulatory Complexity with Confidence
“Regulation is increasingly global in its scope, but still highly local in its application. What sets IQ-EQ apart is our ability to connect the dots – to take local expertise and apply it within a global client framework.” Diana Senanayake, Managing Director for Luxembourg and Regional CEO of Continental Europe at IQ-EQ
How do you see the regulatory compliance needs of your clients evolving, and how is IQ-EQ responding?
Clients in continental Europe, and beyond, are navigating a complex and fast-changing environment – from increasing regulatory demands to cross-border structuring and digital transformation. What they expect from us is not only technical expertise, but also agility and true partnership.Balancing global capability with regional specificity is at the heart of our model. Regulation is increasingly global in its scope, but still highly local in its application. What sets IQ-EQ apart is our ability to connect the dots — to take local expertise from, say, Luxembourg or France, and apply it within a global client framework.Our teams collaborate intensively across borders, especially here in continental Europe. That structure allows us to provide both agility and consistency, which is what our clients need in today’s regulatory landscape.
What role does the Agama Group acquisition play in advancing IQ-EQ’s regulatory compliance capabilities across Europe?
One acquisition that truly exemplifies our commitment to strengthening local expertise within a global framework is Agama Group, which has given us our first dedicated regulatory compliance offering in the region. Since its founding in 2013, Agama has established itself as a market leader in France, providing tailored regulatory compliance, internal control and operational support to asset managers, management companies and institutional investors. Their integration into the Group now enables us to offer a robust, pan-European regulatory compliance solution – grounded in local market leadership and designed to meet the evolving needs of our clients.Agama Group has also developed BELT Solutions as a purpose-built RegTech platform that supports both second- and third-level internal control. It gives compliance and internal audit teams the tools to monitor, assess and challenge the effectiveness of operational controls – and ultimately strengthen governance.
BELT fits perfectly alongside our existing MaxComplyTM solution, which handles onboarding and due diligence and supports the first line of defence. Together, the two platforms address distinct layers of the control environment, which is essential in today’s regulatory context. This integration reinforces our strategy of combining expert insight with scalable, tech-enabled solutions.
The regulatory and investor landscape is evolving rapidly across Europe and beyond. What major trends are you seeing, and how is IQ-EQ positioning itself to stay ahead?
There’s a clear shift in the regulatory environment towards greater operational resilience, transparency and digital readiness. Frameworks like DORA, the Digital Operational Resilience Act, reflect this evolution – moving beyond financial risk to include IT, cybersecurity and data governance. This requires firms to rethink their internal control environments, particularly how they document, monitor and challenge the effectiveness of those controls.At the same time, investors are becoming more demanding – not just in terms of performance, but in governance, ESG, and reporting quality. The expectation is not only compliance, but control maturity and accountability.At IQ-EQ, we’re responding by strengthening our RegTech offering and by aligning our services with the control expectations outlined in these new frameworks. But more importantly, we’re helping clients to anticipate what’s coming – not just react to what’s already in place. Our strength lies in translating regulatory complexity into clear, actionable solutions across jurisdictions.
FACTS&FIGURES
-
Birthday: 04 August 1970
-
Place of birth: Colombo, Sri Lanka
-
Nationality: Belgian
-
Languages: French, English, Dutch, Singhalese
-
Hobbies: Travels, pilates and yoga, nature & wild life, art exhibitions
MY FAVOURITE
-
Cities: New York, Singapore, London
-
Places: Myanmar, China, the Greek Islands and South of France (Var)
-
Books: Art of War by Sun Tzu
-
Music: Jazz and contemporary music
-
Artists: Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and David Kracov