Has Jane Street Scandal Once Again Brought To Centerstage Lapses, Loopholes During Ex-SEBI Chief Madhabi Puri Buchs Regime?
The Jane Steet scandal may have unearthed more than what SEBI has unearthed so far, with the market regulator having barred the US-based high-frequency trading company from Dalal Street this week citing suspected market manipulation. According to sources, the Jane Street scandal flourished during the tenure of Madhabi Puri Buch, who stepped down as SEBI Chairperson in February following a three-year term. Meanwhile, Jane Street is learned to be planning to contest the SEBI ban.
Buch’s term–from March 2022 to February 2025—carried big promises to crack down on speculation while protecting small investors, however, the Jane Street scandal is the latest to underline failures during her regime.
Although many experts are banking on incumbent SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey’s term, some say that one of the key challenges for the head of the country’s market watchdog will be reversing some of the negligent damages caused by his predecessor. This week, market participants witnessed SEBI’s prompt and precise action against Jane Street–a bold move that falls well within the first six months of Pandey’s term, a step that may go a long way in restoring and maintaining some of SEBI’s credibility and accountability lost during Buch’s term.
When Buch-led SEBI missed signals
In 2022, Buch took office with promises of reform, emphasising AI-based surveillance and market integrity. However, her tenure is now under fire due to the Jane Street scandal, where the US-based trading firm allegedly manipulated Dalal Street indices on at least 21 occasions between January 2023 and May 2025.
Using a “pump and dump” strategy, Jane Street is estimated to have made illicit gains of around Rs 4,843 crore, harming retail investors who were misled into risky derivatives trades.
Despite early warnings–including a US court revelation and media reports in 2024–SEBI failed to act. Even when the NSE raised concerns in early 2025, Buch’s regime remained inactive. Her touted tech systems failed to detect the manipulation, exposing a major regulatory lapse.
Critics accused her of favouring optics over substance, overregulating smaller players while ignoring the threats posed by large quant funds like Jane Street.
Her credibility as a reformer has been severely undermined, with widespread criticism over missed red flags, possible conflicts of interest, and a reactive, ineffective regulatory approach.
Jane Street scandal didn’t come out of the blue
There were clear signals of the Buch administration ignoring NSE’s concerns regarding the Jane Street in February 2025 following a US district court order lambasting the company in April 2024.
As early as April 2024, a US District Court in Manhattan reportedly revealed Jane Street’s confession to earning $1 billion annually from India’s markets through its predatory strategies. Last month, some sections of media highlighted how Jane Street and Millennium Management allegedly exploited market inefficiencies to scalp retail wealth. With over 90 per cent of retail investors losing money in a derivatives market where daily volumes had skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, the courtroom drama in the US was a glaring wake-up call. When the Buch administration ignored NSE’s concerns also, it showed its callous attitude about a matter of importance.
Such inaction demands a look into how the Buch administration missed one of the biggest scandals in India’s financial history. SEBI’s much-vaunted AI and high-tech surveillance systems, coined game-changers, proved utterly ineffective. While these systems failed to detect Jane Street’s sophisticated manipulations, they allowed a global quant fund to drain billions from India’s markets while retail investors bore the brunt, according to sources.
