By Nesil Staney
Madhabi Puri Buch, former chairperson at Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), strongly refuted allegations that the market regulator had been soft on high-frequency trader Jane Street during her tenure.
In a press statement on Tuesday, she asserted that the false narrative in certain sections of the media about regulatory failure, was wrong. “In actuality, identification of index manipulation by Jane Street and initiation of numerous actions, including a cease and desist instruction to Jane Street, were carried out by SEBI between April 2024 and February 2025,” Buch said, adding that it was extremely unfortunate that some are attributing false motives for the same, she said.
The extremely complex structures and strategies deployed by Jane Street were probed under her watch, said Buch. At least two fund managers who raised complaints with Sebi on Jane’s manipulations said they had interacted with Buch and her team.
The sequence of events clearly shows that Sebi commenced an examination of the matter as early as April 2024. This formed the basis of the interim order in the matter of Jane Street Group issued by Sebi on July 3, 2025. During that period, Sebi constituted a multi-disciplinary team of officials to examine the matter comprehensively which led to the detailed findings. The order passed by Sebi speaks for itself, she said.
In parallel, Sebi made various policy level interventions in October 2024 and also instructed NSE to issue a cease-and-desist letter to Jane Street in February 2025. All of this is clearly articulated in the order of Sebi, she said.
Buch had a controversial end to her tenure as Sebi chief after US forensic researcher Hindenburg, which shut shop in January, claimed in an August 2024 report that Buch and her husband held stakes in offshore funds linked to Adani Group through complex investment structures.
Buch was the Sebi chairperson since March 2022 and was the first person to hold the position as a lateral hire. Tuhin Kanta Pandey was appointed markets regulator’s chief in February this year.
The Lokpal, India’s anti-corruption ombudsman, cleared Buch saying that the demand for a corruption probe was solely politically motivated. Routine Sebi decisions have been recast as part of an alleged grand conspiracy involving the entire board and dozens of its officers, it added.