INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
trading firm Jane Street Group allegedly manipulated Indian equity indices by targeting over 40 constituent stocks of the Nifty 50 and Bank
Nifty, deploying aggressive expiry-day strategies that netted massive gains, according to a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
order that barred the firm from Indian securities markets on Friday.The market regulator's order, running 105 pages, outlined how the
proprietary trading firm executed high-volume trades to distort index levels, misleading other market participants and profiting from large
The firm and four of its affiliates have been barred from accessing Indian securities markets, and Sebi has ordered the impounding of Rs
futures, and options markets
Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Federal Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDFC First Bank, AU
Small Finance Bank, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, and Bandhan Bank.
Live EventsThe strategy extended to a broader basket of Nifty 50
constituents, particularly on expiry days in May 2025
Sebi listed trades involving Reliance Industries, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Life, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, and Kotak Mahindra
In all, the firm allegedly executed trades in over 40 index stocks, including names such as Adani Enterprises, Bajaj Finance, Coal India,
HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, and Tata Steel.January 17: A case study in
opened significantly lower that morning at 46,573.95 versus the previous close of 48,125.10
Sebi noted that media reports attributed the drop to weak earnings from HDFC Bank the previous evening.The firm allegedly responded with a
the impression of a recovery
effectively Rs 32,114.96 crores of bearish positions in the much more liquid Nifty Bank index options by buying cheap Put options and
crackdown on Jane Street unfolded: A 15-month trail of scrutiny and ignored warningsA repeatable patternSebi found that Jane Street used
that Nifty Bank was almost certainly likely to fall again by the end of the day, given their intent to aggressively sell back all of their
total profits between January 2023 and March 2025, of which Rs 43,289 crore came from index options
These were partly offset by Rs 7,687 crore in losses across cash and futures trades.Sebi also drew attention to broader imbalances in
opinions given by the experts are their own
These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
