Diane Cote

About Diane Cote

Diane Côté is a Canadian business leader known for her deep expertise in audit, risk and finance, and she currently serves as an independent director of Société Générale. She has been a member of the bank’s Board of Directors since 2018 and sits on the Audit and Internal Control Committee, the Risk Committee, and the Nominations and Corporate Governance Committee. In this role, she contributes specialist oversight on financial reporting, internal controls, risk discipline and governance, all of which are essential priorities for a global banking group. A graduate of the University of Ottawa with a background in finance and accounting, Diane Côté is also a Chartered Professional Accountant in Canada. She began her career at EY, where she worked as a senior auditor from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 2012, she held senior positions across audit, risk and finance functions in major insurance companies, including Prudential, Standard Life and Aviva, in both Canada and the United Kingdom. That long experience across regulated financial institutions gave her a strong understanding of risk frameworks, compliance requirements and performance management in complex international settings. From 2012 until 1 February 2021, she served as Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Executive Committee of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). In that capacity, she was responsible for risk leadership at a major global market infrastructure group, dealing with governance, operational resilience and enterprise-wide risk management. Since then, she has continued her board career with non-listed companies in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Her profile combines technical financial expertise, senior risk leadership and board-level judgment, making her a particularly valuable independent director for Société Générale, especially on governance, control and risk oversight matters.