Jane Street to contest ban

BATTLE-READY

- URVI DUGAR & CHANDNI SHAH

JANE STREET HAS told staff it will contest a ban by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) which has accused the US high-frequency trading giant of market manipulation, adding that its practices in question were "basic index arbitrage trading".

Jane Street said it was "beyond disappointed" by what it called "extremely inflammatory" accusations from Sebi and is working on a formal response, according to an internal email sent to employees over the weekend that was seen by Reuters.

The email did not elaborate on the potential action that Jane Street might take.

Sebi on Friday barred the firm from buying and selling securities and seized $567 million of its funds. The regulator alleged that Jane Street bought large quantities of constituents in the Nifty index in the cash and futures markets to artificially support the index in morning trade, while simultaneously building large short positions in index options which were exercised or allowed to expire later in the day.