UPDATE 4-Judge asks if US govt would shut UBS in tax fight

* U.S. judge orders U.S. govt to say how far it would go

* Switzerland says would stop UBS handing over client data

* Berne says may seize UBS client data, if necessary

* Judge may be pushing for a settlement (Adds comment on judge's order, background, paragraphs 7-10)

By Lisa Jucca and Tom Brown

ZURICH/MIAMI, July 8 (Reuters) - A judge ordered the U.S. government to say whether it was prepared to shut Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N) in the United States as part of a battle to learn the identity of 52,000 secret accounts suspected of being used by Americans to avoid taxes.

U.S. District Judge Alan Gold, set to preside over a hearing Monday of a suit seeking to force UBS to provide the information, asked specifically Wednesday about "receivership and/or seizure of UBS' assets within the United States."

Gold said such remedies might be requested of the court if UBS failed to comply, or was prevented from complying by the Swiss government. He gave the U.S. Justice Department until noon (1600 GMT) on Sunday to respond.

Switzerland has vowed to prevent UBS from handing over client information to U.S authorities, in an attempt to defend bank secrecy, and says the tax case targeting its biggest bank is souring diplomatic ties.

Washington has accused UBS of hiding nearly $15 billion in assets in secret accounts but the tax litigation is also crucial for the future of the multibillion-dollar wealth management industry and is pushing several offshore banks to force clients to come clean.

The Swiss Justice Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that Swiss law prevents UBS from handing over client information and the government would seize UBS client data, if necessary, to stop that happening.

Peter D. Hardy, a former U.S. prosecutor, said Gold may be pushing for a last-minute settlement in the case, but the judge was also putting the Justice Department in a tough spot.

"They're going to have to be very delicate and thoughtful in terms of how they respond to this," said Hardy, a partner at the Post & Schell law firm in Philadelphia.

The U.S. government was criticized in 2002 over the collapse of accounting firm Arthur Andersen with the loss of thousands of jobs.

Andersen failed to reach a settlement with the Justice Department over its auditing of Enron and surrendered its audit license after being found guilty on a single criminal charge. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually overturned the verdict but Andersen never recovered.

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