Jane Street Group is continuing its defense in a closely watched appeal against India's securities regulator, denying market manipulation allegations and questioning why regulatory officials launched an investigation after earlier reviews found no violations.
The Wall Street trading firm told a local tribunal on Monday that movements in certain bank stock index constituents were unrelated to Jane Street's trading activities. Jane Street is seeking more information from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regarding the origins and conduct of the investigation.
The dispute has become a test of SEBI's enforcement powers. In July 2025, SEBI issued an order against Jane Street that included the seizure of 48.4 billion rupees ($503 million) in alleged wrongful gains.
Jane Street denies the allegations and has paid the amount, but has not yet resumed trading in India. The case is also being closely watched because its outcome could affect how global trading firms view the operational risks of India's derivatives market. India has one of the world's largest derivatives markets.
At the heart of the dispute is SEBI's allegation that Jane Street influenced the prices of constituents of the NSE Nifty Bank index. The index is one of India's most closely watched stock benchmarks and the underlying index for a large number of actively traded options contracts.
Jane Street denies any market abuse. The company's lawyer, Darius Khambata, told the Securities Appellate Tribunal that index constituent prices rose even when Jane Street sold shares.
Jane Street is also seeking counterparty information redacted from SEBI's trading records, which form part of the materials underlying the regulator's interim order.
Previously, both the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and SEBI's market surveillance department found no market abuse by Jane Street, but SEBI subsequently opened a fresh investigation into the firm.
Jane Street has asked SEBI to disclose more internal communications between departments, as well as the whistleblower materials that prompted the regulator to establish an investigative committee.
The Securities Appellate Tribunal's next hearing is scheduled for October 6.