Financial Roundup: Obama to Guarantee Private Equity, Probe Bank Chiefs, Directors, Cramdowns Lightened Up

(MoneyWatch)  Obama to unlock lending -- President Barack Obama is drawing up a plan to subsidize the profits of big private investment firms in bond markets. As much as $1 trillion could be spent for guarantees to hedge funds and private equity firms so they will continue buying securitized consumer and business loans. [Source: The New York Times]

SEC to quiz bank boards; Lewis subpoenaed -- SEC chairman Mary Schapiro will probe if directors on bank boards were up to their oversight responsibilities. Separately, Bank of America Chief Kenneth Lewis has been subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to see if he withheld information from state regulators. Former Merrill Lynch Chief John Thain has already been grilled. [Sources: The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal]

Khuzami to head SEC enforcement -- Former federal prosecutor Robert Khuzami will be the SEC's new chief of enforcement. Currently a general counsel at Deutsche Bank, he oversaw numerous securities probes in New York. [Source: Securities & Exchange Commission]

U.S. wants 52,000 names in UBS probe -- The Justice Department has expanded its tax evasion probe to seek the names of 52,000 Americans who did business with the United Bank of Switzerland. The probe has torn the veil of traditional Swiss bank secrecy. [Source: The New York Times]

Obama lightens up on cramdowns -- Bowing to the financial industry, the Obama administration will allow bankruptcy judges to change mortgage terms only in recent contracts. The original version would let judges change any mortgage. [Source: American Banker]
Stanford nabbed in girlfriend's car -- Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, accused of cheating 50,000 investors in 131 countries of $8 billion, has been located. The FBI caught up with him in Stafford County, Va. in a car driven by his girlfriend. [Source: The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star]