US-based algo trading firm Jane Street has told the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) that surveillance reports prepared by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Sebi’s Integrated Surveillance Department (ISD) found no evidence of market manipulation by the firm.
Jane Street, which was barred from accessing the securities market in July 2025 over allegations of market manipulation, made the submissions before SAT on Friday while challenging Sebi orders related to inspection and disclosure of documents.
The firm argued that the earlier surveillance reports examined trading periods that substantially overlapped with the period covered by Sebi’s July 2025 ex-parte interim order.
Friday’s hearing concerned Sebi orders dated August 7 and August 22, 2025, relating to Jane Street’s requests for inspection of documents and disclosure of material.
According to Jane Street, both the NSE and Sebi probes covered the period from January 1, 2023, to April 30, 2024. In contrast, Sebi’s July 3, 2025 order covered a longer period, extending up to March 31, 2025.
The firm also pointed out that the NSE report, prepared in November 2024, and Sebi’s ISD report of December 2024, were both prepared several months before Sebi issued its ex-parte interim order in July 2025.
Appearing for Jane Street, senior counsel Darius Khambata said the firm had sought a copy of the complaint that led to the setting up of a new inter-departmental team in December 2024.
“We had asked for a copy of the complaint which motivated this setting up of a new inter-departmental team in December 2024. What was so stunning about this complaint that it received? We would like to see that,” Khambata said.
Sebi’s July 2025 order accused Jane Street of manipulating prices across the cash and futures segments and restrained the firm from accessing the market unless it deposited around Rs 4,843 crore. Jane Street subsequently deposited the amount.
Khambata argued that the documents sought by the firm were relevant to its defence and could potentially undermine Sebi’s case. “We asked for copies of all the communications exchanged between Sebi and NSE. On what basis did NSE make this report? What was the data? Did Sebi commission this report? What was Sebi’s reaction to the NSE when it saw this report?” he said.
Khambata further claimed that the NSE report could not establish that Jane Street’s equity trading influenced index prices in 48 of the 53 time slots in a manner that benefited its derivatives positions.
He said Sebi’s ISD probe had reached a similar conclusion, finding no evidence of manipulation in 48 of the 53 “patches” examined, covering more than 90% of the periods under scrutiny.
Sebi has alleged that Jane Street bought large quantities of index constituent stocks and futures in the morning to artificially inflate the Bank Nifty index while simultaneously building short positions in index options.
Khambata clarified that Jane Street’s appeal was not seeking a ruling on the merits of Sebi’s July 2025 findings. Instead, the firm is seeking to set aside the August 2025 orders to the extent that they denied inspection of the requested documents and to direct Sebi to provide full inspection and copies of relevant material.
The next hearing is scheduled for October 5.
