I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5488 

To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, to increase transparency and oversight of third-party funding by foreign persons, to 

prohibit third-party funding by foreign states and sovereign wealth funds, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, 

to increase transparency and oversight of third-party 

funding by foreign persons, to prohibit third-party funding by foreign states and sovereign wealth funds, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Our Courts 

5 from Foreign Manipulation Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY AND LIMITATIONS ON FOREIGN 

2 THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION FUNDING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 1660. Transparency and limitations on foreign 

7 third-party litigation funding 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘foreign person’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means any person or entity that is 

11 not a United States person, as defined in sec12 tion 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil13 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801); and 

14 ‘‘(B) does not include a foreign state or a 

15 sovereign wealth fund; 

16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘foreign state’ has the meaning 

17 given that term in section 1603; and 

18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘sovereign wealth fund’ means an 

19 investment fund owned or controlled by a foreign 

20 state, an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state 

21 (as defined in section 1603), or an agent of a for22 eign principal (as defined in section 1 of the Foreign 

23 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

24 U.S.C. 611)). 

25 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE OF THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION

26 FUNDING AND FOREIGN SOURCE CERTIFICATION BY


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1 FOREIGN PERSONS, FOREIGN STATES, AND SOVEREIGN

2 WEALTH FUNDS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action, each 

4 party or the counsel of record for the party shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) disclose in writing to the court, to all 

6 other named parties to the civil action, to the 

7 Attorney General, and to the Principal Deputy 

8 Assistant Attorney General for National Secu9 rity— 

10 ‘‘(i) the name, the address, and, if ap11 plicable, the citizenship or the country of 

12 incorporation or registration of any foreign 

13 person, foreign state, or sovereign wealth 

14 fund, other than the named parties or 

15 counsel of record, that has a right to re16 ceive any payment that is contingent in 

17 any respect on the outcome of the civil ac18 tion by settlement, judgment, or otherwise; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the name, the address, and, if 

20 applicable, the citizenship or the country of 

21 incorporation or registration of any foreign 

22 person, foreign state, or sovereign wealth 

23 fund, other than the named parties or 

24 counsel of record, that has a right to re25 ceive any payment that is contingent in 


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1 any respect on the outcome of any matter 

2 within a portfolio that includes the civil ac3 tion and involves the same counsel of 

4 record or affiliated counsel; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) if the party or the counsel of 

6 record for the party submits a certification 

7 described in subparagraph (C)(i), the 

8 name, the address, and, if applicable, the 

9 citizenship or the country of incorporation 

10 or registration of the foreign person, for11 eign state, or sovereign wealth fund that is 

12 the source of the money; 

13 ‘‘(B) produce to the court, to all other 

14 named parties to the civil action, to the Attor15 ney General, and to the Principal Deputy As16 sistant Attorney General for National Security, 

17 except as otherwise stipulated or ordered by the 

18 court, a copy of any agreement creating a con19 tingent right described in subparagraph (A); 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) for a civil action involving an agree22 ment creating a right to receive any payment by 

23 anyone, other than the named parties or coun24 sel of record, that is contingent in any respect 

25 on the outcome of the civil action by settlement, 


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1 judgment, or otherwise, or on the outcome of 

2 any matter within a portfolio that includes the 

3 civil action and involves the same counsel or af4 filiated counsel, submit to the court a certifi5 cation that— 

6 ‘‘(i) the money that has been or will 

7 be used to satisfy any term of the agree8 ment has been or will be directly or indi9 rectly sourced, in whole or in part, from a 

10 foreign person, foreign state, or sovereign 

11 wealth fund, including the monetary 

12 amounts that have been or will be used to 

13 satisfy the agreement; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) that the disclosure and certifi15 cation criteria set forth in subparagraph 

16 (A)(iii) and clause (i) of this subparagraph 

17 do not apply to the civil action. 

18 ‘‘(2) TIMING.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The disclosure and 

20 certification required by paragraph (1) shall be 

21 made not later than the later of— 

22 ‘‘(i) 30 days after execution of any 

23 agreement described in paragraph (1); or 

24 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the civil action 

25 is filed. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PARTIES SERVED OR JOINED

2 LATER.—A party that enters into an agreement 

3 described in paragraph (1) that is first served 

4 or joined after the date on which the civil action 

5 is filed shall make the disclosure and certifi6 cation required by paragraph (1) not later than 

7 30 days after being served or joined, unless a 

8 different time is set by stipulation or court 

9 order. 

10 ‘‘(3) FOREIGN SOURCE DISCLOSURE AND CER11 TIFICATION FORMAT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A disclosure required 

13 under paragraph (1)(A) and a certification re14 quired under paragraph (1)(C) shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) be made in the form of a declara16 tion under penalty of perjury pursuant to 

17 section 1746 and shall be made to the best 

18 knowledge, information, and belief of the 

19 declarant formed after reasonable inquiry; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) be provided to all other named 

22 parties to the civil action, to the Attorney 

23 General, and to the Principal Deputy As24 sistant Attorney General for National Se25 curity by the party or counsel of record for 


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1 the party making the disclosure and cer2 tification, except as otherwise stipulated or 

3 ordered by the court. 

4 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENTATION AND CORREC5 TION.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

6 on which a party or counsel of record for the 

7 party knew or should have known that the dis8 closure required under paragraph (1)(A) or a 

9 certification required under paragraph (1)(C) is 

10 incomplete or inaccurate in any material re11 spect, the party or counsel of record shall sup12 plement or correct the disclosure or certifi13 cation. 

14 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON THIRD-PARTY FUNDING LITI15 GATION BY FOREIGN STATES AND SOVEREIGN WEALTH

16 FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

18 party to or counsel of record for a civil action to 

19 enter into an agreement creating a right for anyone, 

20 other than the named parties or counsel of record, 

21 to receive any payment that is contingent in any re22 spect on the outcome of a civil action or any matter 

23 within a portfolio that includes the civil action and 

24 involves the same counsel of record or affiliated 

25 counsel, the terms of which are to be satisfied by 


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1 money that has been or will be directly or indirectly 

2 sourced, in whole or in part, from a foreign state or 

3 a sovereign wealth fund. 

4 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—Any agreement entered 

5 in violation of paragraph (1) shall be null and void. 

6 ‘‘(d) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE, TO SUPPLEMENT; 

7 SANCTIONS.—A disclosure, production, or certification 

8 under subsection (b) is deemed to be information required 

9 by rule 26(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and 

10 subject to the sanctions provisions of rule 37 of the Fed11 eral Rules of Civil Procedure.’’. 

12 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

13 The table of sections chapter 111 of title 28, United 

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

‘‘1660. Transparency and limitations on foreign third-party litigation funding.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

17 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

18 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General 

19 shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen20 ate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

21 Representatives a report on the activities involving foreign 

22 third-party litigation funding in Federal courts, including, 

23 if applicable— 

24 (1) the identities of foreign third-party litiga25 tion funders in Federal courts, including names, adVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:04 Sep 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5488.IH H5488

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1 dresses, and citizenship or country of incorporation 

2 or registration; 

3 (2) the identities of foreign persons, foreign 

4 states, or sovereign wealth funds (as such terms are 

5 defined in section 1660 of title 28, United States 

6 Code, as added by section 2 of this Act) that have 

7 been the sources of money for third-party litigation 

8 funding in Federal courts; 

9 (3) the judicial districts in which foreign third10 party litigation funding has occurred; 

11 (4) an estimate of the total amount of foreign12 sourced money used for third-party litigation fund13 ing in Federal courts, including an estimate of the 

14 amount of such money sourced from each country; 

15 and 

16 (5) a summary of the subject matters of the 

17 civil actions in Federal courts for which foreign 

18 sourced money has been used for third-party litiga19 tion funding. 

20 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

21 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 

22 civil action pending on or commenced on or after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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