Facts
The [V.] -Foundation aims to provide occupational pension plans for the employees of the employers affiliated with the Foundation. In 1992, [F. AG] concluded an affiliation agreement with the [V.] -Foundation. As of March 1, 1998, [C. AG] took over a portion of the employees of [F. AG] , who then joined the pension fund of [C. AG] . Later, some shareholders founded [T. AG] , which took over another part of the [F. AG] employees. [T. AG] ultimately merged with [F. AG] .
The Federal Social Insurance Office instructed the [V.] -Foundation to transfer the termination benefits to the beneficiaries who had left [F. AG] since February 28, 1998, and to submit a distribution plan for the partial liquidation. The [V.] -Foundation filed a complaint against this with the Federal Complaints Commission for Occupational Old-Age, Survivors' and Disability Pension Plans (BVG Appeals Commission), which upheld the complaint and remanded the matter to the Federal Social Insurance Office for re-evaluation.
[A. AG] (legal successor of [T. AG] ) and 31 former employees of [F. AG] filed an administrative court appeal against the decision of the BVG Appeals Commission with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the administrative court appeal and essentially confirmed the decision of the Federal Social Insurance Office of December 4, 1998. It concluded that the former employees of [F. AG] who are now employed by [A. AG] have withdrawn from the [V.] -Foundation and joined the pension…