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EXHIBIT 99.1

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT FROM KPMG LLP


The Board of Directors of
Charter One Financial, Inc.

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of ALBANK Financial
Corporation and subsidiaries as of and for the year ended December 31, 1997,
including the consolidated statements of earnings, changes in stockholders'
equity and cash flows. These consolidated financial statements are the
responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit 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 operations and cash flows of
ALBANK Financial Corporation and subsidiaries for the year ended December 31,
1997, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.


/s/KPMG LLP


January 30, 1998
Albany, New York