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New Treasury Office Will Oversee Public Pension Fund Liabilities

The Office of State and Local Finance, Treasury Department’s newest, is charged with coordinating oversight of state and local financial bond markets, but that’s not all — it also will monitor public pension fund liabilities, Pensions & Investments reports.

According to P&I, a Treasury representative said in an email that the new office will “support policies to improve the management of public pensions and other liabilities.” It also reports that J.P. Morgan Chase Managing Director for Public Finance Northeast Region and Housing Groups Kent Henshaw will serve as the office’s first director. He is set to assume that role in mid-May. 

There is precedent for functions the office will perform; the Treasury Department runs bond lending programs for state and local governments, notes Dow Jones Business News

Dow Jones’ report suggests that the financial woes of Detroit and Puerto Rico may have been an impetus for the creation of the new office. And, of course, Detroit’s public pension system has been a front-and-center issue in the litigation over Detroit’s bankruptcy.

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John Iekel is Senior Writer and Editor for the ASPPA Net and NTSA Net web portals.