Christine Lagarde, a French politician and the managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), constantly finds herself in controversies and in the latest one, she has been found guilty of 'negligence' over a huge payout to a business tycoon while she served as France's finance minister.
The 60-year-old, however, will not be penalised and had told the court that she always acted in good faith, BBC reported. Previously, Lagarde had defended her decision saying it was "the best solution at the time."
The trial centred on Lagarde's 2007 decision to allow a dispute over business tycoon Bernard Tapie's sale of Adidas to Credit Lyonnais to be resolved by a private arbitration panel, instead of through the courts.
The ruling on Monday could trigger a new leadership crisis at IMF. Lagarde's predecessor, Dominique Strauss Khan, too had to resign after a sexual assault scandal in 2011.
Here are the 10 things that we know about Christine Lagarde:
- She took over as the managing director of the IMF in 2011.
- Largarde speaks fluent English and is known for her straight talking.
- She was part of a French synchronised swimming team.
- She is a law graduate and has a master's degree in English, labour law and social law from the Political Science Institute in Aix en Provence.
- She became the first female chair of international law firm Baker & McKenzie, 18 years after she joined the firm.
- She became the first woman in France and G8 countries to hold the position of French finance minister in 2007.
- She is France's most popular right-wing politicians.
- In 2009, the Financial Times ranked her the best Minister of Finance in the Eurozone.
- Lagarde is divorced and has two sons.
- She is a health-conscious vegetarian and rarely drinks alcohol.
