ALSO. . .

* A federal judge in Los Angeles is expected to decide today whether to give final approval to a $45-million settlement of consumer suits against Citigroup Inc.’s Citibank unit. It is the latest in a recent wave of out-of-court settlements of consumer complaints about credit card companies’ practices. The suit alleged that customers were forced to pay extra interest and late fees because of the unfair way Citibank officials posted payments to their accounts.

* Philip Morris Cos. and other U.S. cigarette makers are scheduled to begin defending themselves today in a Brooklyn courtroom from charges that their products caused a longtime smoker’s fatal illnesses. The case brought by the family of Jeffrey Davis, who was 50 when he died in 1996, is the latest in a string of lawsuits that have sought to hold tobacco companies liable for the illnesses of individual smokers. Tobacco companies have had overwhelming success in such lawsuits. The only blemishes were three West Coast defeats in the last 20 months in which juries handed down sizable awards.

* The Senate is expected to start work Tuesday on legislation sought by the high-technology industry that would increase the number of foreign technical workers allowed to work in the U.S. on temporary visas.

* Frankfurt’s Deutsche Boerse plans to form a consortium with the Milan and Madrid bourses to make a bid for the London Stock Exchange and is prepared to launch a hostile bid if necessary, a German magazine has reported. Swedish stock exchange operator OM Group has made a $1.2-billion hostile offer for LSE.