Johnson Act

This article is about the 1934 Johnson Act. Not to be confused with the 1954 Johnson Amendment.

The Johnson Act of 1934 (Foreign Securities Act, ch. 112, 48 Stat. 574, 18 U.S.C. § 955, 1934-04-13) prohibited foreign nations in debt from marketing their bond issues in the United States. The law was enacted on April 13, 1934, and although it was impacted by the Bretton-Woods Agreement, it was not repealed and continues to have the force of law.

Senator Hiram Johnson sponsored the Act that included a passage that forbade loans to nations in default on their debts.

On May 5, 1934, Attorney General Cummings rendered an opinion on the meaning of the terms "default" and "partial default" used in the Act. He held that Czechoslovakia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Great Britain and Canada were not in default, despite the fact only Canada had paid its debts, and Soviet Russia was in default.

The Act is again relevant now if Venezuela withdraws from the IMF and World Bank (as it says it is doing) and is in default in payment of its obligations "to the United States."