"Obama launches financial adviser crackdown"

I was half hoping it the story would develop along the lines of 2009's "German pensioners ‘kidnap and torture their investment adviser’" but no.
From The Hill:

President Obama moved ahead Monday with plans to impose contentious new regulations against financial advisers.

In a speech to the AARP, Obama said the rules are needed to better protect Americans from financial advisers who sell faulty advice in order to pocket commissions from big banks.

"You should have the peace of mind that the advice you're getting is sound, that you're investments are being protected," Obama said in his remarks.

The business community says that the new regulations — known as the "fiduciary rule" — would limit financial advice access to low- and middle-income Americans because it would take remove incentives for financial advisers to take on less lucrative accounts.

The proposal is unlikely to take effect in the immediate weeks or months. Procedurally, he is only submitting his still undisclosed regulations for a review at the Office of Management and Budget. After that review — which could take months — it will be released for public comment.

Acknowledging the intense industry pressure against the rule in the past, Obama said there will continue to be significant lobbying as the newly proposed rule moves forward....MORE

The way this should play out is the giants design the rules to their advantage and anyone with less than a couple billion under management is swamped by compliance costs and eventually gives up the ghost.

Now back to the 2009 story's intro:

In a July '07 post "FBI: Goldman Sachs threat not of 'high credibility' (Off-topic)" I asked:

...2) Does anyone remember the story of the dentist who put on a Santa Claus suit, kidnapped his stockbroker and tortured him for three days with a cattle-prod, all the while screaming the names of the lousy deals the broker had put him in?

When I ask this question at parties I get funny looks and solitude.
If you have any details please email....

I received some confirmations from folks who recognized the story but no citations. If you've got the cite, drop us a line. Here's the headline story from the Times of London....MORE

A quick Google search turns up a reference I don't recall, dated December 21 2000:
YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS

Ah! Thank you, Miss or Mr. Anonymous: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Jan. 4,1984
Now back to those German pensioners...