SINGAPORE - Singapore's largest sovereign wealth fund GIC said on Thursday it did not buy any shares in UBS from the Swiss government, but said it remained confident about the bank's future.

'GIC did not participate in the placement of UBS shares. As a large investor in UBS, we maintain our confidence in the long-term prospect,' a spokeswoman for the Government of Singapore Investment Corp said in a statement.

The Swiss government's sale of a 9 percent stake in UBS drew lively bids, traders said on Thursday, with a price range seen above the stock's closing price in the previous session.

The Swiss government's divestment of its stake in UBS leaves GIC, which bought 11 billion Swiss francs of UBS mandatory convertible notes in December 2007, as the bank's largest shareholder, people familiar with the Swiss lender said.

(Reporting by Neil Chatterjee; Editing by Kevin Lim)