SEBI Bars Jane Street After Rs 43,289 Crore Index Options Profit

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has barred Jane Street Group entities from accessing the Indian securities market and directed the impounding of Rs 4,843.57 crore in alleged unlawful gains from the group.

According to SEBI’s order, Jane Street earned Rs 43,289.33 crore in profits through trading in index options on Indian exchanges between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 31, 2025.

The market regulator passed the order as part of enforcement action. It applies to all Jane Street Group entities operating in India and restricts their ability to trade or participate in any market-related activity.

"Entities are restrained from accessing the securities market and are further prohibited from buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in securities, direct or indirect," SEBI said in an order.

The regulator has asked Jane Street entities to jointly and severally deposit the amount into an escrow account with a scheduled commercial bank in India. The escrow account must carry a lien marked in favour of SEBI, and the funds cannot be released without the regulator’s approval. The prohibition is immediate and remains in effect until further directions from SEBI.

In addition, SEBI has directed banks to restrict all debit transactions in the accounts held by Jane Street entities, whether individually or jointly, unless for the purpose of complying with this order. Banks may allow credit transactions and debit amounts only if they exceed the sum to be impounded.

Jane Street disputes the findings of SEBI's interim order and will further engage with the regulator, the company's spokesperson said in an emailed response to NDTV Profit.

In April 2024, the regulator acted upon some media reports informing on a legal matter of Jane Street Group. The issue pertained to unfair use of prop trading methods in the Indian stock market.

Thereafter, in July, the National Stock Exchange looked into the issue, and upon an interaction with SEBI in August, the group gave its side of the story. While the proceedings were still brewing up, the Indian markets saw one of the biggest derivatives trading norms rejigs in October.

SEBI issued a circular announcing a series of policy steps in order to address what was seen as overtrading in index options on expiry day.

On Nov. 13, 2024, the NSE examination report on JS Group’s trading activity was submitted, and later, as per the order, the exchange observed what appeared to be abnormally high or low volatility on weekly index options expiry days.

Further, SEBI noted that there were certain entities consistently running what appeared to be by far the largest risks in ‘cash equivalent’ terms in F&O, particularly on expiry days, the order read.

The group was found to have continued with these trading activities despite receiving a cautionary letter from NSE.

Jane Street Group sent responses to the caution letter in early and mid-February 2025. But by May 15, 2025, SEBI noted that the group continued to carry out trades in the same manner, disregarding both the exchange’s caution and their own earlier commitments.

SEBI’s order further explains the corporate structure of Jane Street’s operations in India.

The Indian entity, JSI Investments Pvt Ltd, has clear links to Jane Street Group LLC, based in the United States, which is its ultimate holding company. Another company involved, JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd, is fully owned by JSI Investments Pvt Ltd.

Jane Street Singapore Pte Ltd was also found to be a sister company under the same group, and these connections were confirmed through financial documents and related party disclosures.

In addition, Jane Street Capital LLC, a US-registered broker, and Jane Street Asia Trading Ltd were also shown to be under the same corporate umbrella of Jane Street Group LLC.

The regulator emphasised that all these companies operated under common control and should not be treated as separate or independent entities.

SEBI reached this conclusion after also considering that these companies used the same domain name — janestreet.com — while setting up their trading accounts in India.

In a submission made in August 2024, Jane Street Group responded to SEBI’s preliminary questions on behalf of all the entities involved in Indian trading. Based on this, SEBI concluded that these were not standalone operations but part of one coordinated group.

Therefore, the entire set of trading activities by these entities has been examined together, under the view that they form part of the larger Jane Street Group’s global operations.

The regulator, upon observing that the group continued this egregious behaviour even after cautions, as observed as recently as on May 15 this year, strongly criticised this repeat offence, saying it shows JS Group cannot be trusted.

Their actions, according to SEBI, risk damaging market fairness and the trust of small investors. Because of the seriousness of the issue and the risk of further harm, SEBI decided it had a duty to intervene immediately rather than wait for a full investigation to conclude.

SEBI also pointed out that courts and tribunals have consistently upheld its power to take swift, interim action — even without a full hearing — to protect investors and prevent further damage.

If SEBI had not acted urgently, it said, the opportunity to prevent deeper manipulation and protect market integrity would have been lost.