By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
ADRIAN Searle, the former director of the UK’s National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), has joined TRM Labs as Senior Advisor.
Mr Searle will advise the company’s executive team on partnerships with UK state bodies and financial institutions.
TRM Labs is a US-based analytics firm which provides anti-financial crime insights to businesses and governments.
It said Mr Searle’s appointment will reinforce its “commitment to the UK as a critical market in the global fight against illicit finance”.
Mr Searle said: “I’m delighted to join TRM’s mission at this important time.
“The threat from fraud and financial crime is increasingly complex, and international. Tackling it effectively requires innovation and partnership across public and private sectors.”
The move comes after Mr Searle stepped down from his role as director of the NECC in May.
The NECC is a multi-agency centre which works within the UK’s National Crime Agency to coordinate the state’s anti-financial crime actions.
Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM Labs, said: “Adrian’s leadership across economic crime, cyber threat response and national security gives him a rare, multidimensional perspective.
“His insights will be invaluable as we deepen our work with UK law enforcement, regulators, and financial partners.”
Adrian Searle previous roles
Mr Searle was appointed as director of the NECC in 2022 and oversaw several landmark initiatives.
These included a data sharing initiative between the NCA and seven UK banks. Observers touted the initiative as the largest project of its kind worldwide, which led to hundreds of tactical intelligence reports.
TRM Labs also hailed his achievements in collaborating with the tech sector to “disrupt industrial-scale scam operations in Southeast Asia”.
“[He also] provided oversight of the NCA’s largest-ever operation against global illicit finance,” the firm said.
Previously, Mr Searle served as group head of data and security risk at NatWest Group. Before that, he held a variety of prominent roles in the public sector. This included working as deputy director and head of incident management at the National Cyber Security Centre.
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