‘More than Vijay Mallya + Nirav Modi + Ketan Parekh’: Jane Street gains just tip of iceberg, claims SEBI tipster
On July 3, SEBI issued an interim order to bar Jane Street from trading in India, citing its involvement in “intra‑day index manipulation.” The regulator seized approximately ₹4,844 crore in alleged unlawful gains and ordered the funds frozen in an escrow account.
- Jul 9, 2025,
- Updated Jul 9, 2025 3:09 PM IST
Jane Street raked in more money from Indian options than the combined haul of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Ketan Parikh — ₹25,000 crore in 2024 alone — by manipulating expiry-day trades, Mayank Bansal, president of a UAE-based hedge fund and the whistleblower who first alerted regulators, told BT TV in an interview.
Bansal, who tipped off SEBI months before the July 3 crackdown, revealed that “4,800 crore is just the tip of the iceberg,” based on SEBI’s analysis of just 21 trading days from a two-year period starting July 2023.
He estimates Jane Street’s total profits over that span to be ₹36,500 crore — and “practically… the entirety of it is unlawfully gotten.”
Highlighting the disparity with peers, he said Jane Street’s ₹3 billion in profits for 2024 dwarfed the nearest competitor’s earnings of ₹320–360 million—a ninefold difference that couldn’t be ignored. He added, “Jane Street is not doing what it typically does… moving the index to profit those deltas in the money.”
Inside the alleged scheme
Bansal described a two-step manipulation: first, the firm took massive positions in cash and futures to steer the underlying index. “On expiry days… it would move the underlying to suit the profitability of those derivatives positions.” Once the index was artificially pumped up, Jane Street established short options positions—“long puts and short calls”—then dumped its cash holdings. These strategies triggered deliberate losses of around ₹7,000 crore in cash/futures, which were more than offset by far larger options gains.
He said, “When they bought at unreasonable… prices… they made heavy amounts of money.” The manipulation hit every expiry day across multiple indices — Bank Nifty, Nifty, Sensex, and Midcap.
SEBI’s response
On July 3, SEBI issued an interim order to bar Jane Street from trading in India, citing its involvement in “intra‑day index manipulation.” The regulator seized approximately ₹4,844 crore in alleged unlawful gains and ordered the funds frozen in an escrow account. SEBI’s detailed 105-page order accused Jane Street of inflating the Bank Nifty through aggressive cash and futures purchases, then shorting the index via options, misleading retail investors.
The regulator is now expanding its investigation across other indexes, has tightened surveillance on derivatives, and mandated limits on expiry contracts and lot sizes to protect retail traders.
Jane Street has denied any wrongdoing, calling its strategy “basic arbitrage,” and plans to contest the order within 21 days.
Jane Street raked in more money from Indian options than the combined haul of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Ketan Parikh — ₹25,000 crore in 2024 alone — by manipulating expiry-day trades, Mayank Bansal, president of a UAE-based hedge fund and the whistleblower who first alerted regulators, told BT TV in an interview.
Bansal, who tipped off SEBI months before the July 3 crackdown, revealed that “4,800 crore is just the tip of the iceberg,” based on SEBI’s analysis of just 21 trading days from a two-year period starting July 2023.
He estimates Jane Street’s total profits over that span to be ₹36,500 crore — and “practically… the entirety of it is unlawfully gotten.”
Highlighting the disparity with peers, he said Jane Street’s ₹3 billion in profits for 2024 dwarfed the nearest competitor’s earnings of ₹320–360 million—a ninefold difference that couldn’t be ignored. He added, “Jane Street is not doing what it typically does… moving the index to profit those deltas in the money.”
Inside the alleged scheme
Bansal described a two-step manipulation: first, the firm took massive positions in cash and futures to steer the underlying index. “On expiry days… it would move the underlying to suit the profitability of those derivatives positions.” Once the index was artificially pumped up, Jane Street established short options positions—“long puts and short calls”—then dumped its cash holdings. These strategies triggered deliberate losses of around ₹7,000 crore in cash/futures, which were more than offset by far larger options gains.
He said, “When they bought at unreasonable… prices… they made heavy amounts of money.” The manipulation hit every expiry day across multiple indices — Bank Nifty, Nifty, Sensex, and Midcap.
SEBI’s response
On July 3, SEBI issued an interim order to bar Jane Street from trading in India, citing its involvement in “intra‑day index manipulation.” The regulator seized approximately ₹4,844 crore in alleged unlawful gains and ordered the funds frozen in an escrow account. SEBI’s detailed 105-page order accused Jane Street of inflating the Bank Nifty through aggressive cash and futures purchases, then shorting the index via options, misleading retail investors.
The regulator is now expanding its investigation across other indexes, has tightened surveillance on derivatives, and mandated limits on expiry contracts and lot sizes to protect retail traders.
Jane Street has denied any wrongdoing, calling its strategy “basic arbitrage,” and plans to contest the order within 21 days.