The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has charged solicitor Richard Bloomfield with five counts of insider dealing related to shares of Seraphine Group PLC, the maternity fashion company that went from a splashy London Stock Exchange listing to administration in just a few years. The charges allege Bloomfield used confidential, price-sensitive information he accessed while working on the company’s acquisition.

Bloomfield appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 8 and was released on unconditional bail without entering a plea. His case is set to continue at Southwark Crown Court on August 5.

What happened with Seraphine

Seraphine, a maternity wear brand, listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2021 with a valuation of roughly £150 million. By January 2023, private equity firm Mayfair Equity Partners swooped in with a take-private offer at 30p per share, and Seraphine was delisted. The alleged insider trading by Bloomfield occurred between March 28, 2022, and January 10, 2023, a window that lines up neatly with the period when the acquisition deal was being worked on behind closed doors.

Even after going private, Seraphine couldn’t right the ship. The company entered administration in July 2025, and retailer Next picked up its brand and intellectual property for £600,000. That’s a fall from £150 million to £600,000 in about four years.

The FCA has been clear that its investigation targets Bloomfield individually. His law firm is not under scrutiny, and neither is Seraphine Group PLC itself.

What investors should watch

The Bloomfield case illustrates a pattern that crypto investors should internalize. The gap between when insiders know about a market-moving event and when the public finds out is where the most dangerous trades happen. In traditional markets, that means advance knowledge of mergers, earnings, or regulatory decisions. In crypto, it means knowing about exchange listings, protocol upgrades, partnership announcements, or token burns before the tweet goes out.

There’s also a market structure lesson buried in the Seraphine saga. A company that IPO’d at £150 million saw its equity wiped out within four years. The take-private deal at 30p per share was the last exit for public shareholders, and anyone who traded on advance knowledge of that offer was extracting value from investors who didn’t have the same information.