The International Monetary Fund's managing director, Christine Lagarde, was found guilty on Monday of misuse of public funds during her time as French finance minister, but she will not face any jail time.
According to the judges on the French court, Lagarde should have done more to overturn a $297 million payout to a businessman in an arbitration case in 2008, reported Bloomberg News.
But Lagarde will not face a prison sentence, the judge said. She was tried on charges of "negligence by a person in position of public authority." She was found guilty of negligence, not corruption, which could have brought with it a prison term.
Lagarde has been head of the IMF since 2011. The board of the IMF will meet "shortly" to consider the developments, the BBC reported.
Her lawyers said she might appeal, citing the unusual ruling without a sentence.