IMF chief Christine Lagarde faced questions at a special Paris court yesterday over her role in the €400m pay-off to a controversial businessman when she was France’s finance minister.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde faced questions at a special Paris court today over her role in the €400m pay-off to a controversial businessman when she was France’s finance minister.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is facing questions at a special Paris court today over a controversial financial deal that she oversaw as French finance minister.

French authorities searched the Paris apartment of IMF chief Christine Lagarde yesterday in an investigation into her award of a 2008 arbitration payment to a businessman supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, her lawyer said.

French police have searched the home of IMF chief Christine Lagarde today as part of a fraud investigation involving the country's former Prime Minister.

A French court has decided to investigate new IMF chief Christine Lagarde’s role in a $400m (€280m) arbitration deal in favour of a controversial tycoon.

FRENCH judges may seek more time to decide on opening an inquiry into finance minister Christine Lagarde’s role in a 2008 arbitration payout, which could leave allegations of misconduct hanging over her bid to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Bank robbers bored through an underground wall into a vault in central Paris and ransacked hundreds of private safe boxes.

IT WAS one of Fianna Fáil’s best ever fundraising nights when former taoiseach Albert Reynolds was guest of honour at a private dinner attended by top Cork businessmen, the Mahon Tribunal heard yesterday.

The two hostage-takers involved in today's bank hold-up south of Paris have been arrested.

French police have confirmed that eight people - not six, as previously reported - have been taken hostage in a bank south of Paris.

At least six people were being held hostage by armed robbers south of Paris this morning, television networks reported.

Shares in UK banking group Alliance & Leicester fell sharply today after a potential suitor made a move on a different takeover target.

Families of Americans killed or injured in Palestinian terrorist attacks have filed a lawsuit accusing the NatWest Bank of maintaining an account for a US-designated terrorist group that allegedly funnels money to the militant group Hamas.

Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet has been acquitted on charges of false accounting, clearing the way for him to become the next president of the European Central Bank.

France’s highest court removed the final regulatory hurdle to Credit Agricole SA’s planned merger with Credit Lyonnais SA, a deal to create the country’s largest retail bank.

THE European Central Bank cannot judge how an economy already wracked by war fears would react to fighting, ECB President Wim Duisenberg said on Monday signalling interest rates will stay on hold awhile longer.

BANK OF FRANCE Governor Jean-Claude Trichet went on trial yesterday in a decade-old banking scandal that could thwart his bid to become the next president of the European Central Bank.

Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet went on trial today on charges that could ruin his bid to become the next president of the European Central Bank.

Bank of France Governor Jean-Claude Trichet went on trial today on charges that could thwart his bid to become the next president of the European Central Bank.

A war in Iraq would hurt the global economy, Europe’s top banker Wim Duisenberg said yesterday.

THE FTSE 100 Index staged a spirited attempt to break through the 4000 barrier yesterday as bargain hunters flocked to the beleaguered banking sector.

The FTSE 100 Index staged a spirited attempt to break through the 4000 barrier today as bargain hunters flocked to the beleaguered banking sector.

Bargain-hunters sought out cheap banking stocks today and helped to spark a welcome rally by the FTSE 100 Index.

Share prices in Paris are slightly higher at midday, continuing to drift as investors struggle to find any real direction ahead of strategic announcements due later this week, with Credit Lyonnais leading the market on continuing speculation of a bidding war among its core shareholders, dealers said.

Commerzbank AG reiterated its intention to divest its stake of around 4% in Credit Lyonnais SA, after BNP Paribas bought the French government's 11% stake in the bank at the weekend.

A FRENCH magistrate plunged the future of Jean-Claude Trichet and the European Central Bank into disarray yesterday.

Share prices closed sharply lower, particularly among Dassault Systemes and other high-tech names as consolidation in the sector picked up pace this afternoon with a drifting performance by the Nasdaq composite, dealers said.

Some £4m has been blocked and 50 bank accounts frozen as countries worldwide join the US effort to stop the flow of money to terrorist networks, US President George Bush has said.

A hefty 10% share rise by Rolls-Royce is helping London shares to shrug off poor sentiment from overseas markets.

A wave of further bad news from the US and Japan overnight has led to falls in technology stocks on the London Stock Exchange.