Canada’sBank of Montreal is looking to launch wealth management operations in Singapore, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The publication cited The Wealth Report 2012 by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank, which found that the number of centa-millionaires (those with over $100 million in assets) is expected to increase by 67 per cent over the next four years in Singapore.

BMO has been driving its presence in Asia in recent months, as indicated by its acquisition of a significant interest in one of China’s largest state-owned enterprises - COFCO Trust - in February.

Additionally, earlier this month, the bank launched a representative office in Abu Dhabi, to cover the Middle East and North Africa asset management and investment banking markets.

"We're looking at countries like Singapore in a not-so-distant future. Hopefully we can move forward there as well," Jacques Menard, chairman of the Nesbitt Burns division, told The Wall Street Journal  in an interview.