EXHIBIT 99

                        REPORT OF PREDECESSOR ACCOUNTANTS








                         REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS


Board of Directors and Shareholders
First Midwest Financial, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Storm Lake, Iowa




We have audited the consolidated balance sheet of First Midwest Financial,  Inc.
and  Subsidiaries  (the  "Company")  as of  September  30,  1999 and the related
consolidated  statements  of income,  changes in  shareholders'  equity and cash
flows  for the  years  ended  September  30,  1999  and  1998.  These  financial
statements   are  the   responsibility   of  the   Company's   management.   Our
responsibility  is to express an opinion of these financial  statements based on
our audits.

We  conducted  our  audits  in  accordance  with  generally   accepted  auditing
standards.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement.  An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts of disclosures in the financial  statements.  An audit also includes
assessing the  accounting  principles  used and  significant  estimates  made by
management,  as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the consolidated  financial statements referred to above present
fairly, in all material  respects,  the financial  position of the Company as of
September 30, 1999, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the
years ended  September 30, 1999 and 1998 in conformity  with generally  accepted
accounting principles.


                                                 /s/ Crowe, Chizek & Company LLP
                                                 -------------------------------
                                                     Crowe, Chizek & Company LLP


South Bend, Indiana
October 15, 1999