President Barack Obama has established by Executive Order an interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to strengthen efforts to combat financial crime.  The Department of Justice will lead the task force and the Department of Treasury, HUD and the SEC will serve on the steering committee. The task force, which replaces the Corporate Fraud Task Force established in 2002, is intended to build upon efforts already underway to combat mortgage, securities and corporate fraud by increasing coordination and fully utilizing the resources and expertise of the government’s law enforcement and regulatory apparatus.