MUMBAI: Disputing reports in a section of the media that the Jane Street saga indicates a regulatory failure, the former Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch has said the probe into Jane Street was initiated and carried through under her watch, and that the probe began as early as in April 2024 and that such news reports are trying to create “a false narrative.”
In a press statement issued Tuesday, Puri-Buch said, Sebi began investigating the Jane Street matter more than a year before its July 3 interim order, and accused a section of the media of pushing a "false narrative" of regulatory failure.
After a stellar start, Puri-Buch got mired in alleged personal failures towards end of her three year term ending February 2025, such as not disclosing her investments in some companies Sebi probed through an offshore fund and also not informing the Sebi board about her earnings from ICICI Bank.
"The interim order... has clearly documented the sequence of events," Puri-Buch said, referring to the 105-page order along with another 500 pages in annexures, that accuses the global quant firm of expiry-day manipulation in index derivatives. Sebi’s probe started in April 2024 and involved a multi-disciplinary team tasked with examining Jane Street’s trading structures and patterns, she added.
She also pushed back against criticism that the market regulator was late to act in the Jane Street case. Between April 2024 and February 2025, Buch said, Sebi identified potential index manipulation, issued policy circulars, and even directed the NSE to send a cease-and-desist letter to Jane Street in February 2025—months before the public order.
“It is extremely unfortunate that certain sections of the media are choosing to ignore these facts in plain sight and seeking to create a false narrative by implying that there was regulatory failure on the part of the Sebi,” she said, adding “the July 3 order passed by Sebi speaks for itself.”
The July 3 order barred Jane Street and its Indian entity, JSI Investment along with three other subsidiaries, from accessing the securities market and directed them to disgorge Rs 4,843.5 crore in alleged unlawful gains. It also laid out how the firm allegedly used its India-based unit to execute intraday trades in the cash segment—a route unavailable to FPIs—to influence options pricing on expiry days.
“This is not a case of inaction,” Puri-Buch said, adding, “Sebi was seized of the matter right from April 2024 and took numerous steps to investigate extremely complex structures and verify the data before issuing its order.”