Congress shields U.S. banks from foreign lawsuits over sanctions compliance

What it does

This bill bars U.S. courts from enforcing foreign court judgments or arbitration awards against Americans who complied with U.S. sanctions. It prevents foreign parties from suing in U.S. courts to collect on judgments issued by foreign courts when those judgments arose from U.S. sanctions compliance or were based on jurisdiction asserted because of U.S. sanctions. The bill protects U.S. persons and companies from foreign legal liability for following U.S. government sanctions orders.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a blanket bar on enforcing foreign judgments tied to U.S. sanctions compliance. While framed as protecting Americans from foreign retaliation, it functions as a liability shield for U.S. persons and entities (particularly financial firms) against foreign legal claims arising from sanctions-related conduct.

What the text implies

• U.S. financial institutions, insurers, and exporters gain immunity from foreign court judgments for losses or harm caused by their sanctions-compliance decisions, even if foreign courts found those decisions wrongful or negligent.
• Foreign individuals and entities harmed by U.S. sanctions-related conduct lose access to U.S. courts as a venue to enforce foreign judgments, potentially leaving them without practical remedy.
• The bill applies retroactively to pending cases, immediately dismissing lawsuits already filed by foreign parties seeking to enforce foreign judgments in U.S. courts.
• The carve-out for terrorism victims and Iran/Syria sanctions claims creates a two-tier system: some foreign claimants retain remedies while others lose them entirely based on the type of harm.
• Ambiguity in 'good faith compliance' language may invite litigation over whether a U.S. person's sanctions-related conduct qualifies for immunity, creating uncertainty for foreign claimants.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill shields Americans from foreign legal retaliation for complying with U.S. sanctions—a legitimate sovereignty interest. However, it also blocks foreign parties (including individuals harmed by sanctions-related conduct) from enforcing legitimate claims in U.S. courts, potentially enabling U.S. persons to escape accountability for conduct that foreign courts found wrongful, and it may insulate U.S. financial and insurance firms from liability for sanctions-related losses they caused to for

Who stands to gain

• U.S. financial institutions and banks (AIG, PFG, PRU, FMAO, FBK)
• U.S. insurance companies
• U.S. exporters and multinational corporations
• U.S. asset managers and investment firms

Named in the bill

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, AIG, FBK, FMAO, PFG, PRU

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.

• Sep 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Sep 29, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
• Mar 26, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Grassley without amendment. Without written report”
• Apr 28, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S2073-2074; text: CR S2073-2074)”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

7 lobbying clients named this bill on 10 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $63,415,060 in lobbying spend. A filing names 26 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.

John Cornyn, the sponsor, reported $2,042,484 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $5,000 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 on 3 filings
• Toyota Motor North America Inc (tma) — $3,483,687 on 2 filings
• National Association of Manufacturers — $2,730,000 on 1 filing
• Honeywell International — $1,610,000 on 1 filing
• Ebay Inc. — $580,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.