DIGEST
President Clinton sent a letter to Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, warning he will veto Gramm's proposed legislation to revamp banking laws if that legislation passes Congress in its present form. Clinton said Gramm's proposal fails to provide adequate consumer protections and gives the Federal Reserve too much regulatory authority over banks. The veto threat comes as the Senate and House banking committees draft final versions of financial service modernization bills that they hope to send for full floor votes by early summer.</br></br>Boeing 737s must be inspected for a fire hazard in the center fuel tank, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The FAA wants operators of the twin-engine aircraft -- the most common passenger aircraft in the world, with 2,984 in the worldwide fleet, including 1,181 registered in the United States -- to check the wiring of a fuel tank switch that prevents over-filling. The cost of disabling the switch and installing a caution sign is estimated at $180 per aircraft, or $212,580 for the domestic fleet; for inspecting and reinstalling or replacing it the estimate is $1,080 per aircraft, or $1.3 million for the U.S. fleet.</br></br>Occidental Petroleum said the Oklahoma Supreme Court has upheld a $742.2 million judgment against Chevron. The court affirmed a 1996 judgment favoring Occidental in a breach of contract case related to Chevron's purchase of Gulf Oil in 1984. Interest on the award has brought the total value of the award to $935 million, Occidental said.</br></br>GE Aircraft Engines said it has laid off 270 workers in Massachusetts and Ohio to cut costs in the face of intense price pressures in the aircraft engine industry. The layoffs represent a small percentage of a 34,000-person work force.</br></br>Allstate agreed to form a joint venture with Putnam Investments to sell a type of stock-linked retirement saving plan that has become a popular form of life insurance. The companies will sell variable annuities, a hybrid of mutual funds and insurance policies that let people make tax-deferred investments in the stock market.