Jane Street’s Refusal to Assist in I-T Probe Triggers Market Manipulation Concerns, ETCFO
NEW DELHI: Global trading company Jane Street is reportedly not assisting the Income Tax Department with their ongoing investigation, according to sources.
Sources told ANI that the investigation faces significant challenges as the company’s essential servers are situated outside India, with officials encountering access limitations. “Access to the servers is being blocked,” one of the sources said.
Furthermore, despite Indian company law requiring local maintenance of accounts, the firm’s financial records are kept overseas, creating additional complications for investigators.
The ANI sources indicated that the US-based proprietary trading firm maintains minimal personnel in India, and these staff members are not assisting the authorities. This lack of collaboration has reportedly impeded the investigation’s progress.
This comes after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on July 4, issued an interim order regarding index manipulation by the Jane Street Group, seeking to recover Rs 4,843.57 crore in illegal gains.
The order addresses four entities within the Jane Street Group: JSI Investments Pvt Ltd, JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd, Jane Street Singapore Pte Ltd, and Jane Street Asia Trading Ltd.
Sebi’s order highlighted that the Group implemented a profit maximisation scheme to influence the market, securing substantial profits in index options whilst experiencing minor losses in cash and futures segments.
However, SEBI stipulated that the entities must cease all fraudulent, manipulative or unfair trading practices, whether direct or indirect, that might violate current regulations, including securities trading using patterns identified in the interim order. The entities have acknowledged their compliance with these directives.
Income tax raid
The above claims come a day after the Income Tax Department conducted a survey operation at the premises of several broking companies as part of an alleged tax evasion probe against Jane Street, the US-based proprietary trading firm accused of market manipulation, official PTI sources said.Sources stated the department is undertaking a “verification” exercise against the backdrop of a recent Sebi action against Jane Street.
In an interim order issued on July 3 Sebi found Jane Street (JS) guilty of manipulating indices by simultaneously placing bets in cash along with futures and options markets to secure massive gains.
As a result, Sebi barred the hedge fund from accessing the market and impounded over Rs 4,843 crore in gains. The probe found that JS made a profit of Rs 36,671 crore on a net basis during the probe period from January 2023 to May 2025.
However, on July 21, 2023, Sebi permitted Jane Street to resume trading after the company deposited the mandated amount of Rs 4,843.57 crore into an escrow account.
