1

                                   Exhibit 99

                  Report of Predecessor Independent Accountants


   2
                          INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Emerald Financial Corp.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of income,
shareholders' equity, and cash flows of Emerald Financial Corp. (successor to
The Strongsville Savings Bank) for the year ended December 31, 1996. 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 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 financial statements referred to above present fairly, in
all material respects, the results of operations and cash flows of Emerald
Financial Corp. for the year ended December 31, 1996 in conformity with
generally accepted accounting principles.


/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Cleveland, Ohio
January 25, 1997