The Treasury Department is forming a new unit to oversee the municipal bond market, reports the Wall Street Journal.
In the wake of financial crises in places like Detroit and Puerto Rico, the Treasury will focus on troubled borrowers, an official told the newspaper.
The unit will reportedly be headed by Kent Hiteshew, a veteran public-finance banker at JP Morgan Chase. Hiteshew, who will start in mid-May, is currently managing director at JP Morgan Chase responsible for public finance in the Northeast U.S. as well as the bank's housing finance group.
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The unit will track state and local pensions as well as the financing of bridges, roads and other infrastructure projects, according to the publication.
"This office will centralize a lot of the work that is already happening across the building," said Matthew Rutherford, the Treasury's assistance secretary for financial markets.
"It can look at various issues that arise in the municipal marketplace and make sure we understand what's driving them."
The new unit will not, however, have the authority to write and enforce rules for the market as the Securities and Exchange Commission does.
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