India’s market regulator has temporarily banned US trading firm Jane Street Group from accessing the local securities market after a probe suggested it had allegedly engaged in ‘illegal manipulation’.
A trading boom in complex financial products over the past five years — helped by an influx of millions of new retail investors after the pandemic — has made India a top market for derivatives products.
The surge in trading of Indian index options contracts has seen the world’s most populous country attract interest from global high-speed trading giants, but also resulted in greater regulatory scrutiny.
On Thursday night, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) published a 105-page, interim order accusing Jane Street of market manipulation and restrained it from dealing in local securities.
‘It has been shown above that at least on 21 days, the JS Group has prima facie engaged in illegal manipulation of the securities that comprise the BANKNIFTY and NIFTY indices, thereby vitiating market fairness and integrity,’ SEBI said.Â
