The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has taken strict action against US-based trading firm Jane Street and three of its affiliates, prohibiting them from participating in the Indian securities market.
The regulator has also ordered them to deposit Rs 4,843.5 crore—allegedly earned through unfair trade practices—into an account designated in SEBI’s favour.
Besides this, the directive of SEBI also involves a freeze on the bank accounts of the concerned entities. These are JSI2 Investments Private Ltd, Jane Street Singapore Pte. Ltd, and Jane Street Asia Trading Ltd.
The order of the regulator refers to huge gains—worth Rs 43,289.33 crore—made by Jane Street on Indian exchanges through index options trading between January 1, 2023, and March 31, 2025.
SEBI learnt that on various expiry days, Jane Street's trading strategy was to make aggressive morning trades in the Bank Nifty segment. The company allegedly bought huge quantities of Bank Nifty futures and sold huge amounts of Bank Nifty options simultaneously.
The trend would reverse during the latter part of the day, with the entities purportedly offloading huge volumes of Bank Nifty futures after noon, a move that SEBI suspects was used to influence closing prices of the index on expiry dates.
A particular example mentioned in the order gives Jane Street's action on January 17, 2024. On that morning, the company is said to have bought Bank Nifty futures amounting to Rs 4,370 crore and sold options of Rs 32,115 crore. From noon onwards, it is said to have shed Rs 5,372 crore worth of Bank Nifty futures.
This led to a record short position of Rs 46,620 crore in the options segment and helped in a muted close for the index. Jane Street has allegedly made profit of Rs 735 crore in the options trade on the day, supported by a Rs 61.6 crore loss in cash and futures. The net gain was Rs 673.4 crore in the session.
SEBI, in its order, said that this enforcement action holds good for all Jane Street Group entities which have operations in India. The ban prohibits them from any direct or indirect transactions in securities.
"Entities are restrained from accessing the securities market and are further prohibited from acquiring, selling or otherwise dealing in securities, direct or indirect," SEBI said in its official statement.
Jane Street, on its part, has challenged the findings made in the interim order and indicated that it will continue to discuss the issue with the market regulator.
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