Congress shields U.S. banks from foreign lawsuits over sanctions compliance
S. 2934 — Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2025 · Filed by John Cornyn (R-TX) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 29, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
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 full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
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