Decision on the situation of pensioners in the event of termination of the affiliation relationship between the pension fund and the employer

Facts

The municipalities of B., S. and U. were affiliated with the pension fund for civil servants of the canton of Aargau (the Fund) for the occupational pension provision of their personnel. In anticipation of the entry into force of the new Federal Act on Vested Benefits in Occupational Pension Plans (VBA) on 1 January 1995, the Fund amended its articles of association and insurance conditions on 28 November 1994. In this context, it concluded new affiliation contracts with the municipalities, providing in particular that the Fund should pay the termination benefits due in the event of collective termination of the affiliation contract by the employer, and that the municipalities should reimburse the corresponding technical deficit. The municipalities terminated their affiliation with the Cantonal Civil Servants' Pension Fund at the end of December 1995. The Fund then informed the municipalities of the provisional amount of the technical deficit to be reimbursed, but specified that the current pensions would still be paid until 31 December 1995, after which the new pension institutions would have to ensure their payment. The municipalities then brought an action before the Insurance Court of the Canton of Aargau, which ruled that the pensioners as of 31 December 1995 are not affected by the termination of the affiliation contract and that the Fund remains obliged to pay them their pensions. The Fund appealed against this decision.

Considerations

The Federal Court ruled that federal law does not impose an absolute obligation on pension institutions to retain the pensioners assigned to the departing employer and to continue to pay them the legal and regulatory benefits. However, there must be at least a clear regulation in the…