The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation has said it did not buy any of the UBS shares sold by the Swiss government, but added that it remains confident of the long-term prospects of its earlier investment, according to a report by The Business Times.

The Swiss government sold all 332.2 million UBS shares it controls to institutional investors for SFr16.50 each, or a total of some SFr5.48 billion, last week.

“GIC did not participate in the placement of UBS shares. As a large investor in UBS, we maintain our confidence in the long-term prospects,” a GIC spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

"We do not comment on the specifics of our investments," she added.

GIC's own investment of SFr11 billion francs in UBS mandatory convertible notes is worth just SFr4 billion at the bank's current share price, despite clauses designed to safeguard the investment that were included in the original investment agreement in December 2007, the publication said.