Following conviction, IMF board stands behind Christine Lagarde

Christine Lagarde.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The International Monetary Fund's executive board has expressed "full confidence" in Christine Lagarde's ability to lead the lending agency, following her conviction Monday of one count of negligence tied to her time as the finance minister of France.

Lagarde, who in 2007 became the first female finance minister of France and is the first woman to head the IMF, will not serve any time in prison or have a criminal record. She also said she will not appeal the ruling, adding, "I am not satisfied with it, but there's a point in time when one must stop, turn the page, and move on." After a weeklong trial, France's Court of Justice of the Republic decided Lagarde was negligent in managing an arbitration involving tycoon Bernard Tapie, which led to the fraudulent misappropriation of public funds, The Associated Press reports. Lagarde was never accused of fraud.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.