Tighter regulatory requirements are compelling giant investment banks in the US and Europe to tone down their risk-taking and shift to more staid strategies. Now hot on Wall Street: trading securities for clients, processing trades, exchanging currency, managing assets and advising clients on deals and financing.

The latest example of this new pressure came on Monday, when a Swiss bank panel recommended that the country's banks be forced to raise their capital cushion against risky assets by a higher margin than standards issued last month by a global bank-reform group. Analysts say US regulators could take similar steps as they implement the Basel III Accord.