SoftBank Group is preparing a roughly ¥1 trillion ($6.3 billion) corporate bond sale aimed at individual investors, in what Nikkei reported would be the largest retail bond issuance by a Japanese company. The group is expected to finalize terms in early September 2026 for seven-year notes, with the coupon anticipated to be in the high 4% range. The offering would be SoftBank's third retail bond sale this year after issues in April and June. The planned deal is notable because SoftBank carries a speculative-grade BB+ rating from S&P Global Ratings, making a retail bond offering of this scale unusual in Japan, where individual-investor debt has more often come from issuers viewed as having stronger credit profiles. The planned bonds would be senior unsecured debt, while some bank-issued retail bonds are subordinated and rank lower in repayment priority if an issuer fails. Market participants have questioned whether individual investors fully understand differences in credit quality, bond structure, interest-rate risk and liquidity risk. SoftBank shares fell sharply in Tokyo on the 19th after the reported issuance, adding to concerns about the group's funding burden and spending on AI infrastructure. If priced in the high 4% range, annual interest payments would amount to roughly ¥45 billion to ¥49 billion, with total interest costs over seven years exceeding ¥300 billion. Separately, NVIDIA's credit risk gauge reached a new peak, placing heightened market attention on the chipmaker's credit risk alongside SoftBank's record-sized bond preparation.