Wall Street holiday parties this year took place in luxury venues like the Waldorf Astoria, featured women dressed as glowing angels, and had fine wine, scotch and bourbon on hand – but organizers of the soirées are not eager to publicize the events.

Since 2008, big financial firms have curtailed year-end bashes – not cool in light of taxpayer bailouts, populist outrage and weak profits. Some investment banks stopped sponsoring corporate holiday parties altogether.

In 2016, Wall Street is starting to come back on the scene. "It's a more optimistic climate," said Bill Spinner, director of catering at The Pierre, a Taj Hotel in New York. The number of Wall Street firms with holiday events at The Pierre was steady this year, he said, but more people attended. Other planners said the atmosphere was lighter in 2016, with winter wonderland and carnival themes featuring such flourishes as giant snow globe photo-booths and game stations.

A Reuters review of the financial industry holiday scene found parties sponsored by Credit Suisse, BNY Mellon, Moelis, BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, Pimco, AQR Capital Mgt, Bain Capital, York Capital, and Chilton Investment Mgt, among others. Employees enjoyed themselves at swanky venues in New York, London, Boston, Chicago, Southern California, Sydney and Wroclaw, Poland, according to attendees and Instagram photos.

Representatives of some firms said they were reticent to discuss the parties because they have tried to keep such events out of the news since the financial crisis. One argued his firm's party was more austere than in prior years, and that festive Instagram photos with ostentatious hashtags misrepresented it. Others declined to comment at all.

"There was a real emphasis on making events different but watching costs at the same time," The Pierre’s Spinner said.