Three bankers from JP Morgan Chase are targets of a federal investigation into possible wrongdoing in the municipal bond market. One of those bankers, who has resigned, worked closely with Jefferson County Commissioners over the past decade as the county swapped interest rates on its sewer debt.

Brock School of Business Professor Jeremy Thornton says, "There is no explicit connection between those two incidents. The county's trouble with bonds and this person's resigning. They may be completely independent, they may not."

Commission President Bettye Fine Collins is watching the situation closely. She says, "There is a shaking up in the industry. I think this opens another window for us. When you start having civil litigation, this could give the county another venue other than dealing with the people we are dealing with now."

Thornton says even though no link can be made to the investigation and the county's current financial situation the federal probe is worth noting. "Investigations by the SEC are taken very seriously by any institution. It's the primary regulatory body and how far this goes is anyone's guess."

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