SEBI confirms receipt of Rs 4,843 crore from Jane Street in escrow account

SEBI confirms receipt of Rs 4,843 crore from Jane Street in escrow account

Market regulator SEBI on July 14 confirmed receipt of Rs 4,843 crore from US trading company Jane Street in escrow account.

"This is to confirm that Jane Street has informed SEBI that in compliance with paragraph 62.1 of the July 3, 2025 Interim Order, a sum of INR 4,843,57,70,168/- (Four Thousand Eight Hundred Forty Three Crore Fifty Seven Lakh Seventy Thousand One Hundred and Sixty Eight Rupees only) has been credited to an escrow account with a lien marked in favour of SEBI. They have further stated that this action has been undertaken by them without prejudice to their rights and remedies which remain available to them in law and equity," said SEBI in a statement.

Jane Street has further requested SEBI that, following the creation of this escrow account in compliance with SEBI directions, certain conditional restrictions imposed under the interim order be lifted and that SEBI issue appropriate directions in this regard.

This request is currently under examination in accordance with the directions of the interim order, said SEBI.

SEBI had alleged that Jane Street bought large quantities of constituents in India's Bank Nifty index in the cash and futures markets to artificially support the index in morning trade, while simultaneously building large short positions in index options which were exercised or allowed to expire later in the day.

In its interim order, the regulator has debarred JSI Investments, JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd, Jane Street Singapore Pte Ltd, and Jane Street Asia Trading -- entities collectively referred to as the Jane Street Group -- from trading until further notice, while continuing its investigation.

Established in 2000, Jane Street Group LLC is a global proprietary trading firm in the financial services industry. It employs more than 2,600 people across five offices in the US, Europe, and Asia, and conducts trading operations in 45 countries.

An investigation by Sebi revealed that over 21 expiry days between January 2023 and May 2025, the group executed large trades in the underlying cash and futures markets to influence index movements and profit from massive positions in the options market.

Sebi also noted that between January 2023 and March 2025, the JS Group recorded substantial trading activity across various segments of the market. The group made gains of Rs 44,358 crore from index options trading, which formed the bulk of their profits.

However, these were partially offset by losses of Rs 7,208 crore in stock futures, Rs 191 crore in index futures, and Rs 288 crore in the cash market. After accounting for all gains and losses, the JS Group reported a net total profit of Rs 36,671 crore during this period, Sebi noted.