Jane Street offered Rs 4.3 cr package to IIT Madras student before Sebi crackdown

Global trading powerhouse Jane Street Group LLC, recently barred by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for alleged large-scale market manipulation, had earlier made headlines in India for offering a record-breaking ₹4.3-crore annual package to a student from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

The staggering pre-placement offer, extended during the last IIT Madras placement season, was the highest package recorded at the institute in December 2024. It highlighted the intense competition among global trading firms to recruit elite talent capable of thriving in high-pressure trading environments.

The ₹4.3-crore compensation reflects Jane Street’s demanding operations, where employees are expected to possess exceptional skills in mathematics, programming, and real-time decision-making. The firm’s interview process is notoriously rigorous, featuring rounds of quantitative problem-solving, coding tests, and complex probability puzzles designed to assess mental agility and precision under pressure.

Globally, Jane Street is renowned for both its lucrative salaries and the intellectual challenges it offers employees. According to The Economic Times, the firm consistently recruits from premier universities, including the Ivy League and other top-tier institutions like MIT, Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford, and Princeton.

India has increasingly become a key talent pool for Jane Street and similar quantitative trading firms, thanks to the country’s strong base of engineering and mathematics graduates, particularly from IITs.

Jane Street

India’s rise as one of the world’s five largest equity markets has made it an attractive hub for global proprietary trading houses. Jane Street, operating locally through associate firms JSI Investments Pvt Ltd and JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd, has been expanding its footprint to tap into both India’s skilled workforce and its rapidly growing derivatives market, particularly the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which is among the busiest options markets worldwide.

Despite its deep presence in India’s trading landscape, Jane Street largely maintained a low public profile until SEBI launched a sweeping investigation into its trading activities.

SEBI crackdown

SEBI’s regulatory action follows extensive scrutiny into alleged manipulation of India’s stock market via index derivatives, notably Bank Nifty options. Between January 2023 and March 2025, Jane Street entities reportedly made over ₹43,289 crore in profits from index options trading. After offsetting losses in other segments like stock futures and cash equities, their net profit stood at ₹36,502 crore.

SEBI’s 105-page interim order details two specific strategies employed by the firm: the ‘Intraday Index Manipulation Strategy’ and the ‘Extended Marking the Close Strategy’.

Jane Street has been accused of:

Violating the Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (PFUTP) Regulations

Misleading market participants, particularly retail traders who follow index movements

Acting in concert across multiple entities to distort market dynamics

Ignoring caution letters issued by the NSE in February 2025, warning them to restrain their trading practices

In response, SEBI has imposed several measures under Sections 11(1), 11(4), 11B(1), and 11D of the SEBI Act. These include banning Jane Street’s entities from trading or accessing India’s markets, freezing assets worth ₹4,843 crore, and granting the firm 21 days to respond or request a hearing.

Founded in 2000, Jane Street operates as a proprietary trading firm, meaning it trades using its own capital rather than client funds. With over 2,600 employees globally, it specialises in high-frequency trading and complex algorithmic strategies across the US, Europe, and Asia.

As the SEBI probe continues, Jane Street’s future operations in India remain uncertain—even as the firm’s allure among top-tier graduates underscores the powerful attraction of global quant trading.