The International Accounting Standards Board has refused to reveal its sources of corporate funding, saying it has yet to clarify if the companies involved would object to being named.
The IASB, which was set up last year to devise global accounting rules, said it wanted to reveal the names and would address the issue at a meeting of its trustees early next month.
The board is likely to be setting rules for all European listed companies from 2005.
Its reluctance to reveal the identity of its 125 corporate backers comes after concerns expressed in Washington that it could be vulnerable to influence-buying by big business.
"I am not sure we have yet discussed with our donors the extent to which they are prepared to be named," said Sir Sydney Lipworth, a member of the executive committee of the board's trustees.
Sir Sydney said the board had no discussions about the issue of publicity when it approached hundreds of the world's biggest companies last year for donations.
He denied the board was secretive and said it wanted to publish the names of the companies, which between them provided $11 million (€12.6 million) of the board's funding of almost $18 million last year.
Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the US Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations, raised fears last week that multinationals might try to buy influence over the board.
Mr Levin released an e-mail suggesting Enron, the collapsed US energy trader, considered donating to the board in the hope that it might be able to help shape its policies.
The board claims its independence is guaranteed by the separation of its standard-setters from the trustees who raise the funds.
The IASB grew out of attempts by the accounting profession to develop global rules.
It received $5 million last year from the "Big Five" audit firms and $1-$2 million from central banks and international bodies such as development banks.
The board's position drew criticism from AccountAbility, an institute specialising in corporate reporting issues and funded by companies, accountants and non-governmental organisations.
