Whew! What a year? 

It went by very fast. Frankly, the last three years have passed in a blink. What we have lived through is nothing short of historic. Many lives have been changed. Many careers have been rocked. Recall that as 2010 got underway, many thought the worst of the financial crisis was over, that the carnage inspired by the mortgage meltdown, the CDO implosion, the recession, the failure of Lehman Brothers and other banks was finally in the past. 

But getting to a new day proved to be hard. In 2010, the industry moved sideways in many respects. While toxic assets and balance sheets were cleaned up, while better risk management practices were put in place, while stress tests were passed, new challenges emerged in the forms of public anger, the foreclosure fiasco, and new regulations epitomized by Dodd-Frank, the Durbin Amendment and credit card reform. 

All of this exacted more than a pound of flesh. It would be hard to argue that the industry is much better off now than 12 months ago. 

It all raises some questions: What's in store for 2011? How will the foreclosure fiasco be resolved? And what can banks to do to offset some massive regulation-inspired losses on card operations? I wish I had the answers. It's more likely that some of you do. I'd certainly like to hear some thoughts on what the big issues will be in 2011. So please submit some ideas below. Let's ring out the year with a nice discussion of what's to come. 

And let me take the opportunity to state that is has been a pleasure working with you all. Happy Holidays. - Jim