What happened?

  • Wall Street trading firm Jane Street has been banned by SEBI (India’s stock market regulator) for manipulating prices in the Indian derivatives market – specifically the Bank Nifty index.


  • They made over ₹36,000 crore in just 21 trading days.


  • SEBI has seized ₹4,843 crore of their illegal profits.


  • A large portion (20%) of their global income came from India. 

Who is Jane Street?

  • A global trading company founded in 2000 in New York.

  • Operates in over 45 countries with over 2,600 employees.

  • Uses high-frequency trading algorithms.

  • Entered India in 2020.


It has 3 Indian units:

  • JSI Investments

  • JSI2 Investments

  • Jane Street Singapore

  • Worked with Nuvama Wealth for stock market trading in India.

  • In 2024, Jane Street made a net profit of $20.5 billion, and a large part of it came from Bank Nifty manipulation.

How did Jane Street operate in the market?

Plan of action

  • Jane Street used the “pump and dump” method:

  • Bought a large amount of Bank Nifty stocks at the beginning of the day.

  • Driven up prices to attract retail investors.

  • Then quickly sold everything, causing prices to fall.

  • Made huge profits from their options positions while retail investors lost money.

Targeted stocks:

They mainly targeted:

  • HDFC Bank
  • ICICI Bank

  • Kotak Mahindra Bank

  • These 3 stocks make up 65% of the Bank Nifty index.

Big shock: January 17, 2024

  • Jane Street made ₹735 crores from Bank Nifty in just one day.

  • This made SEBI suspicious and it started a full investigation.

Timeline of events

 2023–2024:

  • Jane Street made ₹36,502 crores from Bank Nifty in 21 days.

  • Profit details (as per SEBI):

  • ₹43,289 crore from index options

  • ₹900 crore from stock options

  • ₹7,208 crore loss in stock futures (planned to avoid detection)

  • ₹288 crore loss in cash segment (also part of strategy)

Legal trigger:

  • In 2023, Jane Street sued former employees in a US court.

  • During the court hearing, it was revealed that Jane Street made $1 billion from India.
  • SEBI took note of this and started monitoring closely.

 SEBI action:


  • By April 2024, SEBI started investigating the trades.
  • On February 6, 2025, NSE warned Jane Street to stop manipulating.
  • Despite promises, they resumed in May 2025.
  • On July 3, 2025, SEBI banned Jane Street and seized ₹4,843 crore.

Why did SEBI issue an interim order?

  • To protect retail investors from further losses.
  • SEBI said: “If we had waited longer, they would have made even more illegal profits.”
  • SEBI needed time to analyze large amounts of trading data and spot patterns.

 Is SEBI conducting further investigations?

Yes. SEBI is now:

  • Investigating other indices and exchanges.
  • This may take another 6 months due to the large volume of trading data.

What is the risk for retail investors?

SEBI’s own study said:

  • 93% of retail investors lose money in derivatives trading.
  • Average loss per trader in FY24: ₹1.25 lakh.
  • Jane Street’s manipulation made it even worse.

SEBI said in the order:

  • The huge losses of small investors and the huge profits of Jane Street clearly reflect the severe damage caused by it.

  •  Key lessons for retail traders

Be cautious:

  • Keep an eye on unusual price movements in both stocks and options.
  • Avoid reacting to sudden surges in the market – it could be manipulation.

What SEBI can do:

  • Monitor cash and derivative trades together
  • Make foreign trade more transparent.
  • Limit trading on expiry days.
  • Ask higher margins for risky trades.


Court filings from Jane Street vs Millennium (2023-2024)

 Final Thoughts

The Jane Street India case highlights a major weakness in the financial system where smart algorithms and foreign traders can outsmart ordinary investors. SEBI’s action is a strong move to protect retail investors and clean up the market.