There's a lot of fear in the industry right now given the news about a modern Glass-Steagall Act coming out of Washington. But it will not likely affect all Wall Street firms equally. When it comes to Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS)a Financial Times blog notes, the two could actually benefit. They could give up their relatively new bank charters, which may open them up to additional regulations and deny them central bank loans. 

But they just might have the field more to themselves. Banks with large consumer operations could well be faced with a Sophie's Choice, ultimately forcing them to some trading and investment banking markets. We've seen what the lack of competition can do to margins in trading businesses as of late. The upside effects were massive for Goldman Sachs anyway. We'll likely hear more about this as analysts get beyond the emotion and take a closer look.

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