Securities and Exchange Board (Sebi) chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday ruled out barring weekly expiries in the wake of the ban on the US-based quant trader Jane Street last week and reiterated that Sebi will not allow anyone to engage in market manipulation.
The regulator also justified the interim order issued against the Jane Street saying the regulator has all the powers to act against manipulative and fraudulent activities, and the interim order speaks for itself. Pandey further said Sebi will continue tightening surveillance on the derivatives market but ruled out curbing weekly index expiries at this stage. In his first comment on the matter, Pandey had last Saturday said the Jane Street scam was an issue of surveillance and that as the regulator it will not allow anyone to manipulate the market.
The Sebi had last week barred US-based quant firm Jane Street from local markets for alleged manipulation of index levels and also ordered it disgorge Rs 4,843.5 crore of illicit gains.
Pandey said, “Sebi is focused on retail investor protection" and surveillance is tightened on both Sebi and exchange level, adding that the regulator was "working towards upgrading its surveillance tools.” Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function at the NSE on Monday, he also said Sebi does not see “many other risks” like the manipulations done by Jane Street.
“I don't think there are very many other risks," he said, replying to a specific question on whether there are other funds or investors who may have manipulated the markets in a similar way.
“What happened in the Jane Street matter was basically a surveillance issue, and the Sebi is increasing its focus on the aspect just because of that,” the career bureaucrat-turned-regulator said.
"...obviously surveillance both at exchanges level and Sebi level will continue, and we will also upgrade those surveillance measures," said Pandey without elaborating. Stressing that the bank on Jane Street is within the confines of the regulatory powers that Sebi has, Pandey said what is needed is not more regulatory powers but better surveillance and enforcement that can help act against any wrongdoers.
In the interim order released in the wee hours of Friday, Sebi found the New York-based hedge fund guilty of manipulating the indices by taking bets in the cash, and, futures and options markets simultaneously for making handsome gains. Accordingly, it debarred the hedge fund from accessing the market and impounded over Rs 4,843.5 crore in illicit gains. The probe has found that Jane Street had made a huge profit of Rs 36,503 crore during the probe period from January 1, 2023 May 31, 2025.
With suggestions coming in on how having monthly expiries in the derivatives segment can help protect retail investors, Pandey said there is no such move under consideration. Whatever further steps the regulator takes will only be based on data.