French minister resigns after conviction over assets declaration

PARIS: The French minister in charge of small and medium-sized companies resigned on Wednesday after being convicted for failing to declare all of his assets.

Alain Griset was handed a six-month suspended prison term and a suspended ban on holding public office for three years by a court in Paris on Wednesday, which found he had deliberately hidden his financial holdings when entering the government in July 2020.

All ministers are required to declare their wealth to a regulator in charge of public transparency, but the court found Griset had concealed an account holding 171,000 euros ($193,000) worth of shares.