Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday again targeted the Futures and Options (F&O) market. He said that option trading in India has now become a game of big players, in which the pockets of small investors are getting empty.
Rahul Gandhi posted on social media platform X and wrote that he had clearly said in 2024 itself that the F&O market has become a game of big players and small investors are continuously suffering losses.
SEBI action on Jane Street
SEBI has banned US trading company Jane Street from the Indian stock market. It is alleged that Jane Street made profits of thousands of crores of rupees through fraud. Rahul Gandhi also raised questions on the central government and SEBI regarding this. He said, “Now SEBI itself is admitting that Jane Street made thousands of crores of rupees through fraud. Then why was SEBI silent till now? Why did the Modi government keep its eyes closed?”
Rahul Gandhi reposted his old post of September 2024 and asked, “How many more big players are duping retail investors?” Retail investors suffer huge losses According to SEBI, Jane Street made profits of over Rs 43,000 crore by trading in index options in an incorrect manner. Rahul Gandhi had earlier warned that unregulated F&O trading has increased 45 times in the last 5 years. He claimed that 90% of small investors have lost an average of Rs 1.8 lakh in the last 3 years.
SEBI Chairman’s statement SEBI Chairman Tushar Kant Pandey on Monday said that the interim order issued in the Jane Street case shows that SEBI has all the rights to take action in such cases. He said that the need is not to make more rules but strict monitoring and action. According to him, “The rules are the same, the difference will be in monitoring and strict action. More rules do not mean more control, the two things are different.” SEBI caught the case after conducting detailed investigation and analytical work against Jane Street. Jane Street is accused of manipulating the market by aggressive trading in the derivatives (futures) segment to make huge profits as quickly as possible.
Conclusion
Rahul Gandhi has once again raised questions on the government and regulators regarding F&O trading. The Jane Street controversy has made it clear that if there is no strict monitoring, big players can easily target small investors. In such a situation, it is important that SEBI strengthens the proper implementation and monitoring of the rules so that the interests of small investors can be protected.
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