Pension and Employee Benefit Act

Pension and Employee Benefit Act - Establishes in the executive branch of the Government an independent agency to be known as the "United States Pension and Employee Benefit Plan Commission," to: (1) promote the establishment, extension, and improvement of pension, profit-sharing-retirement and other employee benefit plans; (2) accept for registration all pension and profit-sharing-retirement plans required and qualified to be registered with the Commission, and reject any pension or profit-sharing-retirement plan that does not qualify for registration; (3) cancel certificates of registration of pension and profit-sharing-retirement plans registered under this Act which cease to be qualified for such registration; (4) direct and administer the pension reinsurance program established by this Act; (5) direct and administer the pension portability program established under this Act; and (6) perform such other functions as may be necessary to administer the provisions of this Act.

Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its functions and duties. Transfers to the Commission the functions of the Secretary of Labor and the Department of Labor under the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act.

Title I: Benefit Standards - Provides that every administrator of a pension or profit-sharing-retirement plan to which this title applies shall file with the Commission an application for registration of such plan. Specifies the requirements that such plans must meet to qualify for such registration, including a definition of the benefits provided, the method of determination and payment of benefits, conditions for qualification for membership in the plan, and the financial arrangements made to insure provisional or full funding of benefits under the plan. Provides that the Commission shall require each plan to furnish each participant, upon termination of service, with a vested right to a deferred life annuity, pension, or other vested interest.

Provides that a pension or profit-sharing-retirement plan filed for registration under this title shall provide that a member of the plan who has been a member of the plan for a continuous period of five years, is entitled upon termination of his employment or membership in the plan prior to attaining retirement age in the case of a pension plan to a deferred life annuity commencing at his normal retirement age, and in the case of a profit-sharing-retirement plan to a nonforfeitable right to his interest in such plan, equal to 10 percent of full pension benefits as provided by the plan with respect to such service or such interest, respectively. Provides that such plans shall set forth provisions for funding that prescribe the obligation of the employer to contribute both with respect to the current service cost of the plan and the initial unfunded liability and experience deficiency.

Provides that the Commission, in respect to a registered pension plan, shall cause the plan to be reviewed not more than three years after registration and at intervals of not more than three years thereafter. Provides for registration of certain pension plans not meeting the above requirements if such plans meet other minimum requirements.

Provides a formula for the allocation of funds among contributors to a pension plan upon complete or substantial termination thereof. Provides for the enforcement of the payment of death benefits under a pension or profit-sharing-retirement plan covered by this title.

Title II: Pension Reinsurance - Establishes a program to be known as the Federal pension reinsurance program to insure beneficiaries of a reinsured pension plan against loss of nonforfeitable benefits to which they are entitled under such pension plan arising from substantial cessation of one or more of the operations carried on by the contributing employer in one or more facilities of such employer before such plan has been fully funded. Provides that each registered pension plan shall pay an annual premium for reinsurance under the program as may be established by the Secretary. Provides for a limited reinsurance Secretary. Provides for a limited reinsurance program of plans to which it is not feasible to give full insurance.

Provides that in carrying out his duties under this title the Commission shall establish a revolving fund into which all amounts paid into the program as premiums shall be deposited and from which all liabilities under the program shall be paid. Authorizes the Secretary to borrow from the Treasury such amounts as may be necessary for deposit into the involving fund, to meet the liabilities of the program.

Title III: Pension Portability Program - Authorizes the Secretary to receive amounts which are transferred to him from a registered plan and which are in settlement of an individual's rights under the plan when such individual is separated from employment covered by the plan before the time prescribed for payments under the plan to such individual or to his beneficiaries.

Title IV: Administration of Employees' Benefit Funds - Provides that every employees' benefit fund established to provide for the payment of benefits under an employees' benefit plan shall be established pursuant to a duly executed trust agreement which shall set forth the purpose or purposes for which such fund is established and the detailed basis on which payments are to be made into and out of such fund.

Provides that moneys in an employees' benefit fund shall be available for expenditure only for the sole and exclusive purpose of paying to employees or their families, dependents, or beneficiaries the benefits for which it was established, and for defraying the reasonable costs of administration of such fund.

Provides that the person or persons responsible for the administration of an employees' benefit fund shall cause an independent audit to be made of the fund annually, and shall make the results thereof available for inspection by interested persons at the principal office of the fund and at such other places as may be designated in the agreement or instrument pursuant to which the fund is established.

Title V: Enforcement - Provides that whenever the Commission: (1) determines, in the case of a pension or profit-sharing-retirement plan required to be registered under title I, that no application for registration has been filed in accordance therewith; or (2) issued an order denying or canceling the certificate of registration of a pension or profit-sharing-retirement plan; the Commission may petition any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the parties, or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, for an order requiring the employer or other person responsible for the administration of such plan to comply with such requirements as will qualify such plan for registration under title I of this Act.

Authorizes the Commission to seek mandatory and prohibitory injunctions in the district courts of the United States regarding violations of the administration requirements of an employees' benefit fund under title IV. Authorizes individuals entitled to benefits under a plan covered by this Act to seek enforcement of their rights in the district courts of the United States.