From the election's policy implications for banking to deep analysis of the Wells Fargo scandal, here are some of our favorite stories of the year. Stay tuned for Part II.

The similarities between the mortgage crisis and subprime auto lending in 2016 are all too obvious, with constrained cash flows, defaults and investor losses all likely.

Sussex Bancorp in Rockaway, N.J., has raised $15 million by selling fixed- to floating-rate subordinated notes to an institutional investor. It did not name the investor.

Regulators have warned about the dangers of high commercial real estate concentrations despite bankers' assertions that they are managing risk better than they did before the financial crisis. Still, CRE concerns could influence M&A and loan diversification in 2017.

FirstBank in Lakewood, Colo., named the successors to its CEO and president, who are both retiring after holding those titles for 17 years.

Equity Bancshares in Wichita, Kan., has raised $35.4 million in a common stock offering and plans to use the proceeds to pay down a line of credit and support growth.

Iberiabank in Lafayette, La., has exited loss-share agreements tied to several failed banks it bought after the financial crisis.

Prosperity Bancshares in Houston filed a shelf registration to sell a variety of shares.

The overall pace of consolidation slowed this year, but the average deal value increased from 2015 as bigger banks continued to get back into mergers and acquisitions. Several of this year's sellers were banks that had been backed by private equity in search of growth or a post-crisis turnaround.

Now that the OCC has proposed a limited-purpose bank charter for fintech companies, a host of innovative new banks will soon flood the market — or maybe not.

Scandal, business models gone awry, missing money and executive shake-ups — 2016 had it all. Here are the financial services executives or groups of them who took the heat and will be looking for better times in 2017.

BB&T Corp. in Winston-Salem, N.C., joins a growing list of banks that are dealing with consent orders tied to the Bank Secrecy Act.

Peapack-Gladstone Financial in Bedminster, N.J., has filed a shelf registration statement to sell as much as $100 million in securities.

Liberty Financial Services in New Orleans said it will redeem more than 11,000 shares of preferred stock it issued as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program after receiving an investment from BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss.

City Holding in Charleston, W.Va., is looking to raise up to $55 million in a stock offering.

So now what? New York Community Bancorp and Astoria Financial have been mum about why they nixed their merger agreement, or where they go next, but the companies have a surprising number of options in the current climate.

Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., said Tuesday that it expects to start offering digital small-business loans in mid-2017.

Ameris Bancorp in Georgia wanted to buy a premium-finance business but settled for a joint venture, blessed by its regulators, after being flagged for insufficient Bank Secrecy Act compliance.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., is searching for a new financial chief officer.

CVB Financial in Ontario, Calif., and Valley Commerce Bancorp in Visalia, Calif., have amended the terms of their planned merger.