Private clients' demands for more far-reaching risk monitoring and control procedures are driving up costs, according to bankers at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit in Geneva.

Several high-level figures in private banking have commented on the rising toll of giving clients extra time with their advisors and higher levels of reporting.

"It comes back to the issue of trust that needs to be rebuilt… There are much more probing questions coming from clients, there is less discretion being given to wealth managers than before, [clients] want to sign off and are much more hands-on than previously,” said Alexander Classen, head of private wealth management in EMEA for Morgan Stanley.

Indeed, private banks have been feeling the squeeze from regulators ever since the banking crisis and the $65 billion Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme fraud.

"The cost of operating the business has increased because of controls and new regulations and rules and pressure put on us by the regulators, this is why the breakeven point has risen and very small operations will see mergers," said Guillaume Lejoindre, managing director of SG Private Banking.