Business News at a Glance

SEC Seeks to Bar Tesla’s Musk From Running a Public Company

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York on Thursday against Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, accusing him of making false public statements with the potential to hurt investors. The lawsuit seeks to bar Musk from serving as an executive or director of publicly traded companies. Tesla, the electric-car maker of which Musk was a co-founder, is publicly traded. The suit relates to an Aug. 7 Twitter post by Musk, in which he said he had “funding secured” to convert Tesla into a private company. Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Japan’s Embrace of Bilateral Trade Talks With U.S. Spares It From Tariffs

When Japan agreed to enter into bilateral trade talks with the United States during meetings at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, the country’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, appeared to have finally said “yes” after two years of saying “no." Japan appeared at first blush to have acquiesced to U.S. pressure and the threat of tariffs on imported cars. Yet by agreeing to open the talks, Japan received a reprieve as long as the talks continue. And U.S. officials also accepted Japan’s insistence that it would not go any further than its previous commitments in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Some analysts suggested Japan had given the appearance of compromising while wrangling concessions from the U.S.

28,000 Public Servants Sought Student Loan Forgiveness, But Only 96 Got It

A program intended to wipe away the student loans of qualifying public servants has rejected more than 99 percent of those who applied, according to a government audit. The Education Department said last week that 28,000 borrowers had submitted applications since the public service loan forgiveness program began accepting them a year ago. Only 96 were approved, the agency said. More than 70 percent were rejected for not meeting eligibility requirements. Most of the rest had left necessary information out of their applications. To get their balances forgiven, applicants must spend at least a decade working for government agencies or certain types of nonprofit organizations; they also must make 120 qualifying monthly payments on their federal student loans.

The Hot Property That’s Next on Tech’s Agenda: Real Estate

Opendoor, a startup that flips homes, attracted attention in June when it announced it had raised $325 million from venture capitalists. The financing valued the 4-year-old company at more than $2 billion. On Thursday, the company said it had gotten a $400 million investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund. The valuation for Opendoor remains the same. The mega-round for Opendoor was not the Vision Fund’s only major real estate-related deal Thursday. The firm also co-led a $400 million investment in the high-end brokerage Compass that valued the company at $4.4 billion. The hauls are part of a race by investors to pour money into technology for real estate, or what Silicon Valley now calls proptech.

In KFC’s China Ads, Nuggets Are Served With Patriotism

Last week, KFC introduced an advertising campaign in mainland China celebrating 40 years of “reform and opening up,” the catchphrase that defined the last 40 years there. The TV spot includes a voice-over “saluting” China’s 40th anniversary of economic reform and a cheer of “Go, China!” Then it touts KFC’s seasonal meal deals. Foreign companies in China rarely venture into the political realm in their advertising, but the ad comes at a potentially difficult time. The mounting trade war between the United States and China, a major market for U.S. consumer brands, has strained the two countries’ commercial ties.

The Infatuation Raises $30 Million From WndrCo

Over nine years, The Infatuation has grown from an upstart restaurant recommendation service to the buyer of the restaurant review company Zagat. Now the company has found a deep-pocketed backer to continue growing. The Infatuation plans to announce Thursday that it has raised $30 million from WndrCo, the media holding company co-founded by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg. The company did not disclose the valuation of the financing round. The Infatuation’s content exists on the web, Instagram (under the branded hashtag “#EEEEEATS”) and a text-message-based service called Text Rex. The company also hosts live events.

Congress Uneasy as Trump Moves to Revise NAFTA Without Canada

The Trump administration and Congress are on a collision course over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement, if it includes Mexico but not Canada. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he is confident that lawmakers would greenlight a revised NAFTA that includes only Mexico. Lawmakers, however, have suggested it would not have the votes to pass. Mnuchin’s comments came a day after President Donald Trump lashed out at Canada, saying it mistreated the United States on trade threatening to impose tariffs on Canadian automobiles if a deal is not reached.