What does it take to fight economic crime on a global scale?

In this episode of Seize and Desist, Aidan Larkin speaks with Adrian Searle, former director of the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), who takes us inside its unique multi-agency approach to tackling financial crime.

Adrian explains why collaboration across law enforcement, government, and the private sector matters, how global information sharing is reshaping the fight, and the roles of technology and AI in driving global financial intelligence and asset recovery.

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction and Background

03:00 - Bridging Public and Private Sectors Responses

13:30 – Collaboration and Information Sharing

20:00– Technology and AI in Economic Crime

43:55 – Future Directions and Challenges in Asset Recovery

About our Guest

Adrian Searle is a leading authority on economic crime and financial intelligence. As former Director of the UK’s National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), he helped shape a multi-agency approach to tackling financial crime, driving collaboration between law enforcement, government, and industry. Today, Adrian works in the private sector, championing innovation, real-time intelligence sharing, and technology-driven solutions to strengthen asset recovery and disrupt illicit finance.

Key Takeaways

NECC’s Multi-Agency Model: The UK’s National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) is a uniquely collaborative unit that unites agencies to combat economic crime more effectively, enabling a full-spectrum approach to economic crime.

Collaboration as a Force Multiplier: Meaningful cooperation across law enforcement, government, and industry is essential to disrupting economic crime.

Global Information Sharing at Scale: Robust domestic and international information sharing is vital to addressing fast-moving economic crime threats.

Quality Over Quantity in Data: A focus on higher-quality data is critical for better insights, decision-making, and operational outcomes.

Real-Time Financial Crime Intervention: Real-time detection and intervention, especially in the realm of cryptoassets, offer promising new avenues for halting illicit activities as they occur.

Technology and AI as Enablers: There is a significant opportunity to leverage emerging technologies and AI for better data interpretation and intelligence processing, although challenges like data integration and accuracy remain significant hurdles.

Resources

National Crime Agency (NCA) | National Economic Crime Centre (NECC)

LinkedIn | National Economic Crime Centre (NECC)

NCA | 10 years of the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT)

Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

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Ep. 29: A New Era of Economic Crime Control