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 accompanying consolidated statements of income, changes in
shareholders' equity and cash flows of First Midwest Financial, Inc. and
Subsidiaries (the "Company") for the year ended September 30, 1999. These
financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our
responsibility is to express an opinion on 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 and 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 audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

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


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


South Bend, Indiana
October 15, 1999