Take a close look at Jane Street's potholed path to market riches

Indian regulators must plug gaps that let such firms potentially profit from the derivative misadventures of retail investors

- RAJRISHI SINGHAL

Jane Street is the title of multiple songs and the name of an indie rock band as well. Another Jane Street is currently in the public eye, a Manhattan-based high-frequency trading firm that was banned recently by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the market regulator. The firm has been allowed back into the market after it deposited over $550 million as a good-faith gesture while the regulator's investigation proceeds alongside. The Jane Street saga has raised multiple questions about India's regulatory framework for the securities market, especially the kid-glove handling of equity derivatives since their formal launch in 2001.

There are also concerns over the nature of inter-regulatory monitoring and coordination, and whether it is adequate to stem malpractices in Indian capital markets.