SoftBank COO pulls out of Saudi Arabia conference: Bloomberg

(Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp's <9984.T> Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure will not be attending the Saudi Arabia investment conference this week, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Claure is the latest high profile executive to pull out of the conference amid mounting pressure on Riyadh over the disappearance and alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A SoftBank spokeswoman declined to comment.

Chief executive officers of top U.S. firms JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK) and the chairman of Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) have pulled out of the event in recent days.

SoftBank's Claure requested the organizers of the Saudi Arabia conference to remove his name from the list of speakers, and said he will not attend, Bloomberg reported, adding that the Japanese conglomerate's founder Masayoshi Son is yet to confirm if he will attend.

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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