Banking giant UBS gained a small victory yesterday in its campaign to stop the US government from forcing it to turn over records of 52,000 account holders suspected of using the Swiss bank to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

Uncle Sam has been seeking the account records through a civil case brought against UBS by the Justice Department, which pursues cases on behalf of the government. Yesterday, the Justice Department and UBS jointly requested permission from a federal court to delay a hearing slated for today in Miami regarding the suspected tax cheats.

If the request is granted by the US District judge assigned to the case, it will give the two sides 15 days to work out a settlement. The hearing will be rescheduled for August 3 and 4 if an agreement cannot be reached.

Various government entities, from the Justice Department to the Internal Revenue Service, have been attempting to crack down on thousands of super-wealthy US citizens suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to avoid paying their dues.

UBS, the largest Swiss bank, has already coughed up $780 million and turned over information on more than 200 account holders earlier this year to settle a separate criminal case accusing it of aiding wealthy Americans in defrauding the IRS.

The Justice Department’s civil case, which was filed one day after UBS settled with the IRS, has met with considerable resistance from UBS and the Swiss government.

The Swiss government has stepped up to say that turning over the names will violate laws protecting bank secrecy. Last week, it threatened to prohibit UBS from turning over its account data, saying it’s prepared to seize the information to ensure the information remains secret.

It’s unclear what might appease the two sides, but the Justice Department remained steadfast in its demand for names, saying any settlement would require UBS “to provide the Internal Revenue Service information on a significant number of individuals with UBS accounts.”