Lagarde Faces Abuse of Power Investigation

A French court has declared it would launch a probe into claims by opposition politicians that International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde abused her authority in 2008, when she surved as the country's Finance Minister.

The Cour de Justice de la Republique, a special court handling criminal matters involving ministers, has examined the results of a preliminary probe of Lagarde's actions.

Prosecutors accuse her of overstepping her authority in by allowing an arbitration panel to settle a long-running dispute between French tycoon Bernard Tapie and Credit Lyonnais, a state-owned bank back then.

Lagarde succeeds her compatriot Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was accused of sexual abuse in May. She is the first woman named to the top IMF post since the institution's inception in 1944 and was appointed as her new position on June 28.