The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is looking at a new independence rule designed to force auditors to come clean on their links with corporations.

The PCAOB has announced it will hold an open meeting this Tuesday to consider adopting Rule 3526 which will require the audit firm to communicate to an issuer's audit committee about any relationships between the firm or any of its affiliates and the issuer.

The PCAOB explained the proposed rule in detail last year.

Meanwhile, the PCAOB continues to come under pressure with the Point of Law blog alerting us to court proceedings over the appeal against the dismissal of a challenge to the PCAOB's constitutionality. As the Point of Law blog points, any finding against the PCAOB's constitutionality would strike at the heart of Sarbanes-Oxley.