A growing number of wealthy Russians are looking into Singapore for opportunities to invest, the Financial Times reports.

With the city-state's booming private banking sector and relative resilience it exhibited during the global financial crisis, significant sums of Russian money have found themselves a home in Singapore's stock market, luxury service firms, and property.

According to the news service, compared to just around 300 Russian residents in Singapore six years ago, there are now over 5,000 living and doing business in the island state.

"There are a lot of people with oil and gas money from Russia and Kazakhstan looking for opportunities to invest," a senior banker who declined to be identified told the publication on the sidelines of an annual forum attended by Singapore's key economic personalities and Russia's business contingent. The city-state is Russia's 30th largest trading partner; and it has been said that some of Russia's largest IT and shipping firms are planning to list in Singapore soon.

The surge in Russian investment comes on the back of the controversy involving the scrapping of total banking secrecy laws in so-called tax havens. However, market observers have told the news service that the interest may be sparked more by Singapore's position as a regional financial hub and by the desire to take part in Asia's rapid growth.