Jane Street Deposits INR 4840 Cr to Comply with Sebi, Set to Resume India Trading

In accordance with regulatory orders, Jane Street, a New York-based capital market company, has placed INR 4,840 crore in escrow accounts. Jane Street has no imminent plans to start trading options in the Indian market again after this.

A temporary account used to keep money or assets while two parties are transacting is called an escrow account. A third party oversees its management. Jane Street, a US-based firm, had previously said that it would contest the SEBI order, which blocked the organisation from the securities markets in India.

SEBI has ordered the group to disgorge illegal gains of INR 4,843 crore for using holdings in the derivatives market to manipulate stock indices. This was quite likely the largest disgorgement amount that SEBI had ever ordered.

Why SEBI Barred Jane Street?

While it continued its inquiry, SEBI's interim decision prohibited JSI Investments, JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd, Jane Street Singapore Pte Ltd, and Jane Street Asia Trading—collectively known as the Jane Street Group—from trading until further notice.

SEBI was investigating the Jane Street (JS) Group for illegally profiting from stock market index level manipulation, namely through the highly liquid Bank Nifty and Nifty index options segments.

According to a SEBI probe, Jane Street made money from huge holdings and executed significant trades to influence market movements over a 21-day period between January 2023 and May 2025.

The regulator also observed that Jane Street saw an increase in trading activity across a number of market segments between January 2023 and March 2025. Jane Street Group LLC is a multinational proprietary trading company in the financial services sector that was founded in 2000.

With five offices in the US, Europe, and Asia, the group has over 2,600 employees. In 45 nations, it carries out trading activities.

Jane Street’s Response to SEBI

In an internal letter to staff, the US-based trading company Jane Street slammed the SEBI, calling its recent ruling accusing market manipulation "fundamentally mistaken."

The letter went on to say that seeing the company misrepresented in this manner is really distressing. Jane Street is proud of the part it plays in global markets; therefore, it hurts to have a study that contains so many false or unsubstantiated claims damage its reputation.

In addition to prohibiting Jane Street and its group companies from engaging in the Indian market, SEBI's ruling ordered the disgorgement of INR 4,834 crore in claimed "unlawful gains." Additionally, the regulator stated that it was still looking into the group's other trading tactics.

The market's watchdog responded to Jane Street's allegations by stating that the July 3 ruling, like all SEBI orders, is a speaking order that lays out SEBI's prima facie case and answers all pertinent issues.