CORRECTED The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is preparing to "assume responsibility" for Sears Holdings Corp.'s two defined benefit plans, following the company's bankruptcy filing in October. The PBGC—the federal agency that acts as a backstop for private-sector defined benefit plans—is "stepping in to become responsible for the company's two pension plans because it is clear that Sears' continuation of the plans is no longer possible," the agency said in a news release Friday. The PBGC is seeking to terminate the plans as of Jan. 31. The agency will become responsible for the pension plans when Hoffman Estates-based Sears agrees to, or a court orders plan termination. Until that time, the pension plans remain Sears' responsibility. The PBGC estimates Sears' pension plans, which cover about 90,000 participants, are underfunded by $1.4 billion, leaving them 64 percent funded.