Christine Lagarde, the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been found guilty of negligence.
The guilty charge against IMF chief Christine Lagarde comes from actions she took during her time as the finance minister of France. However, the judge overseeing the case has chosen not to hit her with any type of fine or jail time.
The decision does mean that Christine Lagarde may have to step down as the chief of the IMF. This could be an action forced on her by the organization’s executive board, or she could voluntarily step down. The possibility of this is slim though due to the board recently supporting her for a second five-year term as the head of the group.
Christine Lagarde may choose to appeal the decision to France’s Cour de Cassation, which is the country’s highest criminal court. It’s also possible that the IMF chief will choose not to appeal the decision since it didn’t come with any form of punishment, reports The New York Times.
The charges against Christine Lagarde could have had her facing one year in jail and a €15,000 fine. Instead, she is able to come out of the case without a criminal record. Judge Martine Ract Madoux said that the “context of the global financial crisis” that took place during the time of negligence was taken into account with the ruling.
“The result of this last five years is nothing, which leaves us in kind of a complicated and strange situation,” Christopher Baker one of IMF chief Christine Lagarde’s lawyers, told BBC News.
