EXHIBIT 23


                         INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT





The Board of Directors
Lakeview Financial Corp.:

We consent to incorporation  by reference in the Registration  Statement on Form
S-8 of Lakeview Financial Corp.  relating to the 1993 Stock Option Plan (Plan A,
Plan B and Plan C) of our  report  dated  September  5,  1996,  relating  to the
consolidated  balance sheets of Lakeview  Financial Corp. and subsidiaries as of
July 31,  1996  and 1995 and the  related  consolidated  statements  of  income,
changes  in  stockholders'  equity,  and cash flows for each of the years in the
three-year  period ended July 31, 1996, which report is included in the July 31,
1996 Annual Report on Form 10-K of Lakeview Financial Corp.

Our report  refers to a change in the method of  accounting  for income taxes in
1994 and a change in the accounting  for certain  investments in debt and equity
securities in 1995.

                                    /s/KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
                                    KPMG Peat Marwick LLP



Short Hills, New Jersey
October 23, 1996