French judges on Monday found IMF chief Christine Lagarde guilty of negligence for failing to challenge a 400 million euro (USD417 million) state arbitration payout to a business tycoon in 2008 when she was French finance minister.
Lagarde was not accused of financially profiting herself from the payout and has denied doing anything wrong by opting for an arbitration process that enriched Tapie. With interest, the award amounted to 403 million euros.
Emerging nations are still conducting "lots of consultations" about choosing a candidate from their ranks to head the International Monetary Fund, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday.