ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

NSE co-location scam

Okay, so imagine you and your friends are playing a game. In this game, you all have to run to a toy that is hidden in a corner of the room and bring it back to the starting point as quickly as possible. Now, you are all running as fast as you can, but suddenly, a few of your friends get to the toy much faster than anyone else.

Now, you might wonder how did they do that? Did they cheat or maybe they had some special advantage that others did not? That's exactly what happened in the NSE co-location scam, but instead of a game, it was in the stock market.

In the stock market, there is something called co-location, which means that specific traders get to place their computer servers in the same building where the stock exchange computers are located. This gives them an advantage because their orders reach the stock exchange faster than those from other traders who are located far away.

Now, what happened in the NSE co-location scam was that a few traders were given an unfair advantage. The stock exchange staff members allegedly gave these traders access to some critical information that other traders did not have. This information allowed them to place orders faster and gain more profits. Essentially it was like allowing your friends to start closer to where the hidden toy was, so they reach it faster than everyone else.

This was not allowed, and it was considered illegal because it gave some traders an unfair advantage over others. It caused a lot of people to lose money, and it was a big deal in the world of finance. The people involved were caught, and they had to pay a fine for their actions.