FINRA fined Independence Capital and its principal Dennis Twarogowski $168,680 for failing to supervise recommendations of GWG L Bonds, the OCC granted Laser Digital National Trust Bank a new charter in New York, GMS Group was fined $35,000 for Reg BI failures, GRP Financial migrated four advisors to its retirement planning subsidiary, and 20 RIA disclosures were recorded across 80 total events.
FINRA Fines Independence Capital $168K for GWG L Bond Failures
FINRA fined Independence Capital Co., Inc. and Dennis C. Twarogowski a combined $168,680 for failing to reasonably supervise five representatives' recommendations of GWG L Bonds between August 2020 and February 2021. The firm also failed to establish written procedures reasonably designed to supervise the sale of these complex, high-risk products.
GWG L Bonds were life-insurance-linked securities issued by GWG Holdings — a company that filed for bankruptcy in April 2022, causing investors to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. The GWG collapse has generated a wave of FINRA enforcement actions against broker-dealers that sold L Bonds without adequate supervision, due diligence, or suitability analysis. The Independence Capital case adds to the growing body of enforcement outcomes holding firms accountable for their role in distributing these products.
OCC Grants Laser Digital National Trust Bank Charter
The OCC approved a new bank charter for Laser Digital National Trust Bank at 450 Lexington Avenue in New York — the fifth new bank charter of January 2026. Laser Digital is the digital asset subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest investment bank. The national trust bank charter enables Laser Digital to provide institutional-grade digital asset custody, settlement, and trust services through a federally regulated banking entity.
The Laser Digital charter represents another milestone in the convergence of traditional banking and digital asset infrastructure, following the World Liberty Trust Company and bunq US Bank charters earlier this month. January 2026 has now produced five new bank charters — an extraordinary pace that reflects the OCC's willingness to process non-traditional banking applications.
FINRA Fines GMS Group $35K for Reg BI Failures
FINRA fined The GMS Group, LLC $35,000 for failing to establish Regulation Best Interest compliance procedures from June 2020 through October 2023, violating Reg BI, MSRB Rule G-27, and FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010. The three-year duration of the Reg BI compliance gap — beginning shortly after the rule's June 2020 effective date — suggests GMS Group failed to implement the new standard in a timely manner.
Robert Wylie Goff was separately fined $5,000 and suspended for one month for exercising discretion in 12 customer accounts without written authorization.
GRP Financial Migrates Four to Retirement Planning
GRP Financial Services migrated four advisors — Lance Harder (CRD 7286728), Brooks Riley (CRD 5879671), Nathan Nichols (CRD 6733212), and Jacob Coan (CRD 7570046) — to GRP Retirement Planning, reflecting an internal restructuring that separates the firm's retirement-focused advisory practice into a dedicated entity. Two Retirement Resource advisors also migrated to Retirement Resource Wealth Management in a parallel restructuring.
UBS Financial Services lost Benjamin Schulte (CRD 8017195) to J.P. Morgan Securities. Raymond James recruited Joshua Cotten from LPL. HTK lost another advisor — Patrick Galvin to Blueprint Financial Advisors — extending the firm's January losses to five advisors.
CFTC Issues Large Trader Reporting Update
The CFTC staff issued a no-action letter with implementation updates to the 2024 large trader reporting rule, providing compliance relief and clarification for firms adapting to the updated reporting requirements.
Across the Wire
Twenty RIA disclosures set the January single-day record. Twelve new advisory firms registered, two closed. Two RIA graduations and two failures were recorded. Three FOCUS reports were filed. Seventeen SEC announcements were published. The day's 80 events made it the third-busiest day of January.
All data sourced from FINRA BrokerCheck, SEC EDGAR, CFTC, OCC, and the Finleet Terminal as of January 27, 2026. Entity profiles are available at terminal.finleet.com.