Regarding compensation, how did the industry fare in 2010? The results varied. Goldman Sachs employees earned an average of roughly $398,000, down 11 percent from 2009. JPMorgan's investment bank employees earned an average $370,000, down 2.4 percent. At Morgan Stanley, despite some tough rhetoric from the top, compensation rose about 8 percent to an average $257,000. Compensation at Citigroup and Bank of America increased about 3 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Of course, there's a lot of variation within firms, with the higher-ranking, bigger producing employees taking a larger cut of the bonus pool.

The biggest winners in 2010 may be the top executives. At Citigroup, the board gave CEO Vikram Pandit a huge raise; his salary was $1.75 million vs. $1 for the previous two years. Stock options are sure to follow.

At Goldman Sachs, the stock options grants to top executives--including CEO Lloyd Blankfein--since the crisis have been massive, leading to some huge personal gains on paper. We still do not know what the board has decided to pay for 2010.

All of this will likely be less controversial--though there are plenty of critics--in light of the attention the Fed and other regulators previously paid to the issue. Most banks seem to be following "best practices" in terms of length vesting periods, use of stock and even clawbacks.

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