The former boss of housing corporation Vestia does not have to repay his €3.5m golden handshake, a court in Rotterdam said on Wednesday.

Vestia, which almost went bankrupt in 2012 after losing millions of euros speculating on the stock exchange, had tried to reclaim the money from Erik Staal. The court ruled, however, that there are no legal grounds to get it back.

Rotterdam-based Vestia was eventually bailed out by other housing corporations to the tune of €1.9bn. Vestia says it will not appeal against the decision and will instead focus on a damages claim against Staal and other members of the supervisory board.

Staal was also the Netherlands’ best paid housing corporation boss, with an annual salary of €500,000.