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                                                                EXHIBIT 23



                        CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
                        -------------------------------


The Board of Directors
Eldorado Bancorp:

We consent to incorporation by reference in the registration statements (Nos.
333-00091, 033-60893, 2-73352, 33-31416, 33-46375 and 33-49482) on Form S-8 of
Eldorado Bancorp of our report dated February 5, 1997, relating to the
consolidated balance sheets of Eldorado Bancorp and subsidiary (the "Company")
as of December 31, 1996 and 1995, and the related consolidated statements of
income, shareholders' equity and cash flows for each of the years in the
three-year period ended December 31, 1996, which report appears in the 
December 31, 1996, annual report on Form 10-K of Eldorado Bancorp.

Our report on the consolidated financial statements of the Company, dated
February 5, 1997, contains an explanatory paragraph that states that the
Company changed its method of accounting for investments in debt and equity
securities to adopt the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards
Board's Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 115, "Accounting for
Certain Investments in Debt and Equity Securities," in 1994, No. 114,
Accounting by Creditors for Impairment of a Loan, as amended by No. 118,
Accounting by Creditors for Impairment of a Loan - Income Recognition and
Disclosures in 1995.


KPMG Peat Marwick LLP


Orange County, California
March, 20, 1997