Facts
The married German national A., born in 1946, lived and worked in Switzerland from 1970 to 1977. In January 2011, he filed a pension application with the Swiss Compensation Office (Schweizerische Ausgleichskasse, SAK) with regard to reaching the regular retirement age on May 24, 2011. The SAK set A.'s old-age pension at CHF 276 per month, effective June 1, 2011. The insured person's wife, B., reached the regular retirement age on January 5, 2012. The SAK calculated her pension and set it at CHF 276 per month, effective February 1, 2012. Due to the income splitting carried out, the SAK also recalculated A.'s old-age pension and reduced it to CHF 236 per month, effective February 1, 2012. A. contested the pension calculation and the exchange rate conversion, as he claimed that the pension payment in euros was based on an overly low exchange rate. The Federal Administrative Court partially upheld the complaint and ordered that the conversion of the AHV benefits to euros be carried out until March 31, 2012, based on the daily reference rate of the major Swiss banks, and from April 1, 2012, based on the reference exchange rate published by the European Central Bank. The SAK then filed an appeal in public law matters.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the SAK's appeal. It stated that neither Article 90 of Regulation (EC) No. 987/2009 nor Decision No. H3 of the Administrative Commission apply to the payment of benefits calculated solely on the basis of national legislation. Even after the entry into force of these EU legal provisions on April 1, 2012, the exchange rate is to be determined in accordance with national regulations, by analogy with Paragraph 5033 of the Guidelines for the Voluntary Old Age, Survivors' and Disability Insurance (Wegleitung zur…