SEBI acts against Jane Street; hopes to recover Rs.4,843.57 crore illegal gains
Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath lauds the regulator for ‘going after’ the company
By: : Ajay Singh
Update: 2025-07-03 18:30 GMT
SEBI acts against Jane Street; hopes to recover Rs.4,843.57 crore illegal gains
Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath lauds the regulator for ‘going after’ the company
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has taken strong steps against Jane Street, a US-based investment firm accused of its alleged role in index manipulation. It hopes to recover one of the highest ever illegal gains of Rs.4,843.57 crore.
In the 105-page interim order, SEBI targeted four entities under the Jane Street Group umbrella - JSI Investments Pvt Ltd, JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd, Jane Street Singapore Pte Ltd, and Jane Street Asia Trading Ltd.
Meanwhile, Nithin Kamath, founder, and CEO of stock brokerage firm Zerodha, lauded SEBI for chasing Jane Street. He posted on X, "You've got to hand it to SEBI for going after Jane Street. If the allegations are true, it's blatant market manipulation.”
He added, "The shocking part is that they kept at it even after receiving warnings from the exchanges. Maybe this is what happens when you're used to the lenient U.S. regulatory regime. Think about the structure of U.S. markets: dark pools, payment for order flow, and other loopholes that allow hedge funds to make billions off retail investors. None of these practices would be allowed in India, thanks to our regulators.”
The regulator noted that Jane Street used a profit-maximising scheme to manipulate the market and booked substantial profits in index options, while incurring small losses in the cash and futures segments.
In 2024, media reports pointed to legal disputes involving Jane Street's proprietary strategies in the Indian markets.
SEBI explained that the Jane Street Group entities were cautioned by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in February 2025. However, they did not refrain from certain trading behaviors and continued to deploy high-risk and market-distorting strategies.
It added that, considering the gravity of violations and ongoing disregard for regulatory warnings, urgent intervention was necessary to protect market integrity and the interest of investors.