The Corporate Fraud Task Force was a
United States Federal Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...
-wide
task force formed by President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
in the wake of corporate
accounting scandals that shook investor confidence. Task Force establishment occurred through
delegated legislation with the issuance of
Executive Order 13271 of July 9, 2002, ‘‘''Establishment of the Corporate Fraud Task Force''’’.
President Bush had remarked in the address announcing the creation of CFTF that...
:: ‘‘We will use the full weight of the law to expose and root out corruption,’’ Bush said on July 9, 2002.‘‘My administration will do everything in our power to end the days of cooking the books, shading the truth and breaking our laws.’’
According to
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
at the time:
:: ‘‘Bush's speech was designed in part to refute critics who have called him too cozy with Corporate America -- particularly Democrats who, in a congressional election year, seem unlikely to cut him much slack, especially after raising questions about his own past business dealings.’’
:: ‘‘The speech, which the administration had been advertising for weeks in advance, came a day after the president held an impromptu news conference and was forced to defend his sale of stock in
Harken Energy
HKN, Inc. is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Southlake, Texas. It is notable for the Harken Energy scandal, which involved allegations of insider trading by George W. Bush in 1990. The company was known as Harken En ...
12 years ago.’’
Membership
The following ''Department officials'' were standing members of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force:
Director of the Federal Bureau of InvestigationAssistant Attorney General Criminal DivisionAssistant Attorney General Tax DivisionUnited States Attorney for the Central District of CaliforniaUnited States Attorney for the Northern District of CaliforniaUnited States Attorney for the Northern District of IllinoisUnited States Attorney for the Eastern District of New YorkUnited States Attorney for the Eastern District of PennsylvaniaUnited States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
The following ''agency officials'' made up the membership in the interagency group also within the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force:
The Secretary of LaborThe Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentThe Secretary of the Treasury*
The Comptroller of the Currency*
The Director of Office of Thrift Supervision*
The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)The Chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading CommissionThe Chairman of the Federal Communications CommissionThe Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionThe Chairman of the Securities and Exchange CommissionThe Chairman of the Federal Reserve BoardThe Chief Inspector of the United States Postal Inspection Service
The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency
Termination
The Corporate Fraud Task Force was terminated on November 17, 2009 by President Barack Obama with the issuance of
Executive Order 13519, entitled ‘‘''Establishment of the
Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force''’’.
Attorney General Eric Holder Announcement
the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Press Conference, 17 November 2009.
References
{{Reflist
External links
USDOJ: DAG: Corporate Fraud Task Force
US Department of Justice, Deputy Attorney General
of July 9, 2002, ''Establishment of the Corporate Fraud Task Force''; archived at DOJ: DAG; CFTF.
Presidency of George W. Bush
United States Presidential Task Forces
Government agencies established in 2002
Establishments by United States executive order
Financial regulation in the United States
2002 establishments in the United States