NEWSMAKER-Tough U.S. judge set to preside in UBS tax case

* Judge has ruled against big business before

* Runs tight courtroom and 'suffers no fools'

* 'Put up or shut up' seen as his message to US government

By Tom Brown

MIAMI, July 10 (Reuters) - The judge presiding over a high-stakes legal showdown between the U.S. government and Swiss bank UBS AG is seen as a straight-shooter who has not shied away from taking aim at big corporate interests.

Some see Judge Alan Gold of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida emerging as an international mediator as he deals with issues loaded with important foreign policy and financial ramifications, led by U.S. demands for a lifting of Switzerland's treasured bank secrecy laws.

But U.S. attorneys and prosecutors who know him say Gold, a 65-year-old native New Yorker, will studiously avoid doing anything inconsistent with his role as a judge as he handles his biggest and most publicized case since he came to the federal bench in Miami nearly 13 years ago.

"He's about as straight-shooter as they come," said Charles Intriago, a former U.S. federal prosecutor and money laundering expert, who publishes a website for law enforcement officials about asset forfeiture.

"He's the perfect judge for this," he added, referring to the hearing Gold is set to preside over Monday in a suit in which the Justice Department is seeking to force UBS (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N) to disclose information on 52,000 secret accounts suspected of being used by wealthy Americans to avoid paying their taxes.