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                                  EXHIBIT 99


 2


                                                             NEWS RELEASE


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               JUNE 20, 1996
                                    FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                    PAUL D. HAGAN
                                    DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL REPORTING
                                    (516) 222-9300 EXTENSION 286


Garden City, New York, June 20, 1996

Reliance  Bancorp,  Inc. has announced  that its  President and Chief  Operating
Officer  Raymond A.  Nielsen has been  elected  Chief  Executive  Officer of the
Company and its subsidiary  Reliance  Federal  Savings Bank,  commencing July 1,
1996. A Reliance employee for 26 years, the new Chief Executive Officer has been
President and Chief Operating  Officer of the Bank for the past 10 years and the
Company since its Initial Public Offering in March 1994. He succeeds  Raymond L.
Nielsen who will retire as Chief Executive  Officer while continuing to serve as
Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Additional  Reliance  Bancorp,  Inc. and Reliance Federal Savings Bank executive
changes  announced  effective  July 1, 1996  were the  election  of Senior  Vice
President,  Treasurer  Gerald  M.  Sauvigne  to the  Office  of  Executive  Vice
President,  Treasurer,  the election of Vice President  Joseph F. Lavelle to the
Office of Senior Vice President,  and the naming of Vice President,  Director of
Financial Reporting Paul D. Hagan, Vice President,  Chief Financial Officer. Mr.
Sauvigne is a 19 year Reliance  employee  while Mr.  Lavelle is with Reliance 27
years and Mr. Hagan, formerly with KPMG Peat Marwick, joined Reliance in 1993.

Reliance  Bancorp,  Inc. and Reliance  Federal  Savings Bank also  announced the
election on June 19, 1996 of Conrad J. Gunther, Jr. to the Board of Directors of
the Company and the Bank  respectively.  Mr.  Gunther is Vice  President  of The
Allied Group, the largest independent insurance brokerage  headquartered on Long
Island and 61st largest in the United  States.  He brings a  independent  active
business  background to Reliance  including  his  prominent  role in Long Island
Commercial Banking spanning 20 years.

Reliance Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Reliance Federal Savings Bank.
Reliance  Bancorp,  Inc. and Reliance Federal Savings Bank are  headquartered in
Garden City,  New York and operate 28 banking  offices,  located in the New York
City  metropolitan  areas of Queens,  Nassau and Suffolk.  Reliance Federal is a
consumer oriented  financial  institution  specializing in providing deposit and
credit services for its communities.