Sebi plans to heighten surveillance to check manipulation in derivatives market

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is planning to enhance its surveillance system to check manipulation in the derivatives market, chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Monday. This follows the regulator barring US-based proprietary trader Jane Street from the securities market for allegedly generating illegal profits by manipulating indices through large derivatives positions.

"This (Jane Street case) is essentially a surveillance issue," Pandey said on the sidelines of an event. "Surveillance mechanisms will be upgraded further to strengthen oversight." He added that monitoring will continue at Sebi's as well as stock exchange levels.

Assessment from Various Angles

"Manipulative practices can be worked out by different players in different ways," Pandey said. "There is no one particular way in which you have to assess. Our regulations clearly mention that manipulative and fraudulent practices are not allowed in the market, and within the regulations, Sebi has all powers to investigate and act."

The chairman appeared to be of the view that such practices aren't widespread. "There may not be many more such cases," he said in response to a question on whether other funds may have manipulated the markets in a similar manner.

Last week, Sebi ordered the seizure of what it said were "illegal gains" made by Jane Street to the tune of Rs 4,844 crore ($570 million) in one of the toughest punitive actions against an international trader. It's likely the largest amount thus impounded by the regulator.

Four entities tied to Jane Street Group - JSI Investments, JSI2 Investments, Jane Street Singapore and Jane Street Asia Trading - have been prohibited from dealing in securities, directly or indirectly.

Jane Street, which started its India operations in 2020, made a profit of about $4.3 billion between January 2023 and March 2025, the period under review, on its India trades.

The regulator's finding is that the NSE's Bank Nifty Index - comprising stocks of India's top dozen lenders - was manipulated in a complex and illegal manner aided by JS Group's immense trading, financial and algorithmic prowess.

Jane Street would drive up prices with heavy buying in the morning and send them down through a selling spree later in the day, according to Sebi. It also sought to push index levels down with heavy sell orders close to the option expiry, the regulator said.

Sebi found that Bank Nifty options alone contributed Rs 17,319 crore, amounting to 40% of the total index option's profits.