Jane Street Offered Rs 4.3-Crore Package To IIT Madras Student Before Sebi Crackdown

News18

05-07-2025

Last Updated:
The Rs 4.3-crore offer reflects Jane Street's high-stakes trading environment and its need for individuals with advanced skills in maths, coding, and real-time decision-making.
Jane Street Salary: Global trading firm Jane Street Group LLC, which has been barred by markets regulator Sebi for allegedly executing a large-scale manipulation strategy in India's derivatives market through sophisticated algorithmic trading, had earlier offered a jaw-dropping Rs 4.3-crore annual package to a student from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.
The Jane Street pre-placement offer, during the last IIT Madras placement season, made headlines in December 2024 as it was the highest package during the season.
The Rs 4.3-crore offer reflects Jane Street's high-stakes trading environment and its need for individuals with advanced skills in mathematics, programming, and real-time decision-making. Jane Street's interview process often includes multiple rounds of quantitative problem-solving, coding challenges, and probability puzzles — all aimed at testing raw mental agility.
Jane Street is known globally for its lucrative compensation packages and its famously rigorous hiring process. According to Economic Times, the firm routinely recruits from Ivy League and top-tier global universities including MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford, and Princeton.
India, with its rich pool of mathematical and engineering talent, particularly from IITs, has increasingly featured on its recruitment radar.
Why Is India A Growing Priority for Global Quant Firms?
India's growing prominence as one of the world's five largest equity markets has made it a strategic focus for global proprietary trading houses. Firms like Jane Street have expanded operations in the country to tap into both the local talent pool and the rapidly growing derivatives market on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) — one of the world's busiest options markets by volume.
Jane Street operated in India through its associate firms — JSI Investments Pvt Ltd and JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd. Until recently, it maintained a low public profile despite its deep involvement in quantitative trading strategies in Indian markets.
Jane Street Banned
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a 105-page interim order dated July 3, imposing severe restrictions on Jane Street's entities in India. The regulator said the entities engaged in a manipulative trading strategy involving the deliberate misuse of index options and futures to generate unlawful profits worth Rs 4,843.57 crore.
Sebi accused Jane Street's entities of making Rs 43,289 crore in profits from options while deliberately booking Rs 7,208 crore in losses through futures and equities — a method seen as distorting the integrity of the market. The total notional impact of the alleged scheme stood at Rs 36,500 crore.
The order directed Jane Street's entities to deposit the alleged illegal gains in an escrow account with a lien in SEBI's favour. The regulator also froze their bank, demat, and custodial accounts, with instructions to block all debits unless cleared by SEBI.
Between January 2023 and March 2025, Jane Street entities made over Rs 43,289 crore in profits from index options, particularly Bank Nifty (BANKNIFTY) using various strategies that allegedly manipulated markets. These profits were partly offset by losses in other segments like stock futures and cash equity, resulting in a net gain of Rs 36,502 crore.
In a 105-page order, Sebi highlighted two key manipulative strategies — 'Intraday Index Manipulation Strategy' and 'Extended Marking the Close Strategy'.
1. Intraday Index Manipulation Strategy
Citing an example of January 17, 2024, when Jane Street made its biggest single-day profit of Rs 734.93 crore, Sebi said Jane Street aggressively bought stocks in the Bank Nifty index (like ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank) in the cash and futures markets in the morning session. This artificially pushed the index higher. Simultaneously, it built large short positions in Bank Nifty options by selling call options at inflated premiums, and buying put options at lower prices.
Later in the day, Jane Street sold off those same stocks, causing the index to drop. This boosted the value of their put options and rendered call options worthless, ensuring massive profits.
2. Extended Marking the Close Strategy
On certain expiry days, Jane Street allegedly manipulated prices in the last two hours or near the market close, a crucial window for settling F&O contracts.
Jane Street Reacts
Jane Street, in response to the allegations, has pushed back. In an email statement to Reuters, the firm said: 'Jane Street is committed to operating in compliance with all regulations in every region where we operate globally. We dispute the findings of the SEBI interim order and will continue to engage with the regulator."
The case remains under detailed investigation. SEBI's interim order currently bars Jane Street entities from buying, selling, or dealing in securities — directly or indirectly — on Indian exchanges.
What Is Jane Street?
top videos
View all
Founded in 2000, Jane Street is one of the largest proprietary trading firms in the world. The company trades more than $17 trillion annually across asset classes, including equities, ETFs, bonds, options, and crypto. Its global operations span New York, London, Amsterdam, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Despite its global scale, Jane Street is famously media-shy and rarely makes public appearances. Its influence, however, is vast — from being a major liquidity provider in global ETF markets to actively participating in high-frequency trading and arbitrage strategies.
Stay updated with all the latest news on the Stock Market, including market trends, Sensex and Nifty updates, top gainers and losers, and expert analysis. Get real-time insights, financial reports, and investment strategies—only on News18.
Location :
New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
July 05, 2025, 14:03 IST
News business » markets Jane Street Offered Rs 4.3-Crore Package To IIT Madras Student Before Sebi Crackdown