MUMBAI: In his first public comments on the Jane Street scam, markets regulator Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, “Sebi will not tolerate market manipulation at any cost.”
It can be recalled that Sebi, in an interim order issued in the early hours of Friday, banned New York-based proprietary trading giant Jane Street. The firm had reportedly made more money from trading than two other Wall Street giants—Citi and Bank of America—combined in 2024, pocketing a whopping $20.5 billion, of which more than a fifth, ₹36,502 crore, came from manipulating the Bank Nifty.
The order, issued by Whole Time Member Anantha Narayan, also directed the company to pay back Rs 4,843.5 crore to Sebi, which it deemed to have been illicitly earned.
“As I said earlier, surveillance is in place, and we have effectively increased the number of participants in surveillance both at the exchange level as well as the Sebi level,” Pandey told reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of an event, when asked about the Sebi ban on Jane Street for allegedly manipulating the Bank Nifty index through pump-and-dump trades.
The chairman further added, “This is basically a surveillance issue, and we are now tracking the markets more closely. We are looking at everything.”
“Market manipulation is not going to be tolerated at all—at any cost,” Pandey reiterated. He was speaking to reporters after addressing the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society in the evening.
In his address to the auditors’ body, Pandey said corporate governance is not a choice but an imperative, and the highest standards must be upheld both in letter and spirit. In this context, he emphasised that the role of chartered accountants is non-negotiable.
“You have to act as the first line of defence against financial irregularities. You must uphold the principles of financial maturity not just in letter and spirit, but also morally. Auditors must also ensure that there is information symmetry in the financial disclosures of companies they audit, and help prevent selective leaks of financial information,” he said.
He added that the association must ensure peer-based financial reporting, which is essential to maintain fairness and credibility. However, he cautioned that too much information flow is not always helpful when it comes to serving public interest.
