NEW YORK - FORMER president Bill Clinton has offered to undergo an ethical review and identify donors to his charitable foundation if his wife becomes secretary of state, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.

Aides to president-elect Barack Obama and the former first couple have been in talks since Monday to try to overcome concerns about potential conflicts of interest should Mrs Hillary Clinton be nominated as top US diplomat, the paper said.

Under an emerging agreement, Mr Clinton has agreed he would make public all new donors to his charitable foundation and all 'major' past contributors if his wife is nominated as top US diplomat, the report said.

He would also seek clearance from the Obama administration before accepting paid speaking engagements or future donations to his presidential library and his Clinton Global Initiative non-profit, it said, citing people involved in the talks.

'He's willing to be as transparent as the Obama world wants,' an unidentified source told the paper.

Mr Obama met with the former first lady in Chicago late last week, and neither have since denied rampant speculation that the president-elect is considering nominating his former Democratic primary rival to be a heavy-hitting secretary of state.

Among the many questions raised by the potential appointment is what impact and influence the globe-trotting former president would have on the Mr Obama administration, and whether his myriad contacts, donors and outsize global persona would enhance or complicate his wife's work. -- AFP