UPDATE 1-UBS muni team leaves NY asset management group

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NEW YORK May 27 (Reuters) - UBS (UBSN.VX) on Wednesday confirmed that four municipal bond experts have voluntarily left its U.S. fixed income business in asset management in New York City.

"I can confirm that four people have left the municipals group," said spokeswoman Karina Byrne. The bank has no plans to exit this line of business, she said.

"This in no way changes the level of service to clients and we remain well-resourced."

The asset management group serves high-net worth individuals and institutional clients, including pension funds, and the exiting group included the head of the team.

Byrne could not specify the amount of assets managed by the departing municipal bond team.

A source familiar with the issue estimated the muni team handled a few billion dollars of assets.

In spring 2008, UBS shut down its U.S. municipal bond underwriting unit -- a business it inherited from its Paine Webber deal in 2000 -- after failing to find a buyer.

The bank had ranked fifth among senior underwriters of muni bonds in the first quarter of 2008, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Reporting by Joan Gralla; Additional reporting by Joseph Giannone; Editing by James Dalgleish)