EXHIBIT 99.1

                          INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT



The Board of Directors
Imperial Bancorp and subsidiaries:

We have audited the consolidated balance sheet of Imperial Bancorp and
subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2000, and the related consolidated
statements of income, changes in shareholders' equity and comprehensive income
and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31,
2000. 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 audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted
in the United States of America. 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 audits provide a
reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present
fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Imperial Bancorp and
subsidiaries as of December 31, 2000, and the results of their operations and
their cash flows, for each of the years in the two-year period ended December
31, 2000 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America.


/s/ KPMG LLP

Los Angeles, California
January 26, 2001