By Lisa Valentine

President Obama just signed an executive order to create a Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force, led by the U.S. Justice Department, includes folks from the U.S. Treasury, SEC, CFTC, and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The new task force replaces the Corporate Fraud Task Force created in 2002.

Not to leave anyone out or hurt anyone’s feelings, the task force also includes officials from the Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Social Security Administration, the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and Small Business Administration. (SBA).

Have we left anyone out? There are other agencies on the list that we neglected to mention to conserve space. Also, other departments, agencies,  or offices may be invited as the President or the Attorney General see fit.

The task force’s mission is to investigate and prosecute “significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, address discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims.” The task force isn’t as concerned with finding fraud as it is with making sure that criminal charges will be filed if fraud is found. It’s about vindication. It’s sort of the same philosophy espoused by some who support the death penalty – that capital punishment will deter people from killing each other.

It’s also about making sure that the government doesn’t look ineffective or soft in combatting financial crime. The Washington Post mentioned last week’s acquittal of two Bear Stearns hedge-fund managers charged with violating securities laws as the most recent embarrassment for the government. Surely the government doesn’t want to be embarrassed again.

The task force, said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, “will build upon many of the inter-agency collaborations already underway.”

Isn’t “inter-agency collaborations” an oxymoron?