Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp. is planning to lend as much as $20 billion to its employees to buy stakes in its second venture capital fund following the success of an earlier $100 billion fund to invest in tech start-ups, the Wall Street Journal reported. The second Vision Fund aims to raise $108 billion, SoftBank said earlier. In addition to its ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose for the first time since 2017 in July, led by weakness in the retail and restaurant industries as the government warned of further pressure on the city’s slumping economy in the months ahead. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.9%, including a “relatively notable increase” in the food and beverage service sector, the ...

Bloomberg Japanese exports fell for an eighth straight month in July, weighed down by shipments of auto parts and semiconductors, as slowing economic growth and trade battles raise fears of a global recession. The value of shipments abroad dropped 1.6% in July from a year earlier, according to the finance ministry. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated a 2.3% drop. ...