EXHIBIT 23(B)
 
                   REPORT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
 
To the Board of Directors of Southern National Corporation:
 
  We have audited in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards the
consolidated financial statements of Southern National Corporation and
subsidiaries as of December 31, 1996 and 1995, and for each of the three years
in the period ended December 31, 1996, which financial statements are included
in this Form 10-K, and have issued our report thereon dated January 14, 1997.
Our audit was made for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic
financial statements taken as a whole. Exhibit 11 is presented for purposes of
complying with the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and is not part
of the basic financial statements. Exhibit 11 has been subjected to the
auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements
and, in our opinion, fairly states in all material respects the financial data
required to be set forth therein in relation to the basic financial statements
taken as a whole.
 
                                          Arthur Andersen LLP
 
Charlotte, North Carolina, 
    January 14, 1997.