2nd UPDATE: GIC:UBS Long-Term Investment; Upbeat On Prospects

Government of Singapore Investment Corp. or GIC, said Friday it plans to remain a long-term shareholder of UBS AG (UBS), and is confident of the Swiss bank's outlook after meeting this week with Chairman Kaspar Villiger.

"We have confidence in the prospects of the bank under the leadership of Chairman Kaspar Villiger and Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel," sovereign wealth fund GIC deputy chairman Tony Tan told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of The International Organization of Securities Commissions, or IOSCO.

A spokesman for UBS declined to comment on Tan's remarks.

GIC manages Singapore's foreign-exchange reserves. It is the world's fourth-largest sovereign wealth fund in terms of money managed, according to Deutsche Bank, with high-profile investments in financial institutions such as Citigroup Inc. (C) and Zurich-based UBS.

GIC, together with an undisclosed Middle East investor, will hold a roughly 7% stake in UBS when a mandatory convertible note is transferred to shares, which happens March 5 at the latest.

Tan demurred when asked about GIC's holding in U.S.-based Citigroup.

-By Katharina Bart, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]