Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker is no longer bankrupt after seven years, as a High Court judge said he had done “everything he could reasonably do” to meet his financial obligations.
The German tennis legend declared bankruptcy in 2017 and owed creditors £42m over an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his property in Mallorca.
Now Becker’s representatives have said the former BBC commentator has reached an agreement with his administrators.
While bankruptcy orders end after a year in England and Wales, a judge suspended the automatic discharge of the order in 2018, due to Becker “breaching his obligations”.
But last month at London’s High Court, Becker’s lawyers asked a bankruptcy judge to lift the stay, arguing that he had done “the best he was capable of doing” to meet his obligations.
On April 24, his suspension was lifted and his bankruptcy automatically ended.
Boris Becker (pictured) appears at Southwark Crown Court on April 29, 2022
The former German tennis player was declared bankrupt in 2017. Pictured: Becker playing a backhand during his second round match on Center Court at Wimbledon in 1996.
Former German tennis player Boris Becker (right) and Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro arrive at the Laureus Sports Awards ceremony
The tennis great previously served prison time for hiding assets and loans worth £2.5 million to avoid paying debts.
He served time at HMP Wandsworth and Category C Huntercombe Prison near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. He was released in December 2022 and deported to his native Germany.
Giving written reasons for his decision on Wednesday, Judge Briggs said it would be “perverse” not to lift the suspension.
He said: “On the spectrum of bankruptcies ranging from ‘as difficult as possible and doing everything possible to thwart the trustee’s queries’ to ‘cooperative, providing information and delivering goods’, Mr Becker clearly falls in the correct side of the line.
“Mr. Becker signed a declaration of truth, hired attorneys to ensure compliance with his obligations, and signed a settlement agreement that benefits the common trustees.
“I accept his evidence and consider that he has objectively done all that he reasonably could do to fulfill his obligations to the joint trustees.”
At last month’s hearing, Katie Longstaff, representing the joint trustees, said that while there was no opposition to the application to lift the suspension, she said that “for the record, we obviously do not support it”, claiming that “the creditors are still owed £42”. million and a bit’.
Louise Doyle KC, representing Becker, said the former BBC commentator and his trustees had “been able to resolve their differences” through a settlement agreement.
He said: ‘That agreement has been formalized in writing. This is a settlement of all outstanding issues in the bankruptcy, although this is dependent on Mr Becker making a payment which will have the effect of contributing a substantial sum to the bankruptcy estate.’
Doyle told the court that the resolution “includes the notable trophies” and that Becker “cannot do more than he has done to get us to this point.”
He continued: “What the court should do, objectively speaking, is not to ask whether the bankrupt has done everything down to the last I and the T crossed in terms of compliance, but whether, in fact, what he has done constitutes, in the circumstances , the best”. possible that he is capable of doing to fulfill his obligations.’
