Judge orders U.S. government to clarify UBS stance

MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ordered the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to spell out how far it is willing to go to force Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX)(UBS.N) to hand over confidential client information to U.S. authorities.

In a court filing ahead of a court hearing he is due to preside over beginning on Monday in Miami, U.S. District Court Judge Alan Gold asked if the department was considering "receivership and/or seizure of UBS' assets within the United States."

Such a move may be contemplated, he said, if UBS failed to comply with a possible court order to disclose data on about 52,000 U.S. taxpayer accounts sought by U.S. tax authorities.

(Editing by Andre Grenon)