FRENCH COURT RULES LAGARDE MUST STAND TRIAL IN TAPIE CASE

PARIS: France’s highest appeals court ruled on Friday that International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde must stand trial for her role in a 400 million euros ($440 million) payout in 2008 to businessman Bernard Tapie. She was French finance minister at the time, and is accused of negligence by improperly signing off on the decision to allow an extremely rare out-of-court arbitration in a dispute between Tapie, a supporter of conservative former president Nicolas Sarkozy, and the state. Her lawyer said he was convinced the trial would show she was innocent.