UPDATE 1-Swiss court says denied Credit Suisse client request

ZURICH Dec 20 (Reuters) - A Swiss court denied a request by a U.S. client of Credit Suisse for more time before Swiss tax officials can hand over confidential client data to the U.S.

The ruling, made public on Tuesday, does not name the Swiss bank, the client, or even the client's legal representation, but a court spokeswoman told Reuters the ruling applies to data Credit Suisse handed over to Swiss officials recently.

Tuesday's court ruling comes as Switzerland and the United States try to resolve their dispute over some Americans' use of secret Swiss accounts to dodge taxes.

Credit Suisse is one of a raft of Swiss banks in the crosshairs of U.S. officials after UBS agreed in 2009 to hand over names of more than 4,000 of its account holders and pay a $780 million fine to settle charges it helped Americans dodge taxes.

Since then, spurred by several amnesty programs aimed at enticing tax evaders to come clean, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has sifted through a trove of data pointing to patterns at other Swiss banks.

Credit Suisse last month said it submitted account data to the Swiss tax office. Other banks such as Julius Baer and privately-held Wegelin have also been identified in the probe.

Switzerland and the U.S. are discussing a settlement, which is believed to involve Swiss banks paying a fine and handing over data in order to escape prosecution in the U.S.

A spokesman for Credit Suisse declined comment on Tuesday.