Tapie affair: Lagarde takes hit but support holds at IMF

AFP - Ordered to stand trial in France, IMF chief Christine Lagarde is counting on the broad support and high esteem she enjoys at the global institution as she faces a tough legal ordeal at home.
Almost as soon as the news surfaced, the executive board of the International Monetary Fund expressed its backing, doubling down on the position it took when Lagarde first came under investigation in the Bernard Tapie affair in August 2011.
The IMF board “continues to express its confidence in the managing director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties,” spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement.
France quickly weighed in on the matter. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Lagarde “is presumed innocent” and “perfectly capable of continuing to assumer her responsibility.”
A special French court ordered the IMF chief to go on trial over her role in a 403 million euro ($433 million) payout by the state to settle a dispute between Tapie, a French tycoon, and the partly state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais.
A legal source said Lagarde, who was France’s finance minister at the time of the 2008 settlement and allowed it to go to arbitration, is alleged to have been negligent in not challenging the massive award.