On Thursday, May 22, 2014, Judge Sontchi upheld the Energy Futures Holdings debtors’ chosen venue in Delaware, denying the second-lien holders’ motion to transfer the bankruptcy case to Texas.  In arriving at this decision, Judge Sontchi accepted the Debtor’s argument that the bankruptcy case was primarily a “financial restructuring” and would thus impact mostly investors and banking institutions based in New York, and not employees, trade creditors and customers based in Texas.  Additionally, the Texas Attorney General filed a 2-page statement prior to the hearing, confirming that “the Texas Regulatory Authorities take no position on the Motion to Change Venue.”

In issuing his bench ruling, Judge Sontchi also noted that the request for a transfer of venue to Texas came from a Delaware entity, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, as trustee for second-lien notes, and that none of the Texas-based Energy Futures employees or customers requested a change of venue to Texas.