What is the difference between a 20-F and a 10-K?

Both are annual reports, but the 10-K is for U.S. domestic issuers and requires U.S. GAAP, while the 20-F is for foreign private issuers and accepts IFRS or home-country GAAP with a reconciliation. The 10-K is due within 60-90 days of year-end; the 20-F within 4 months.

Who has to file a 20-F?

Foreign private issuers — non-U.S. companies with shares listed on a U.S. exchange that do not meet the SEC's definition of a U.S. domestic issuer, such as Toyota, Novartis, Alibaba, ASML, and SAP.

Do foreign private issuers file quarterly reports?

No. FPIs are not required to file the 10-Q quarterly. They instead furnish 6-K event-driven reports with material information made public in their home country, and may publish semi-annual or annual results per home-country rules.

Can a 20-F use IFRS instead of U.S. GAAP?

Yes. The SEC accepts IFRS as issued by the IASB for FPI 20-F filings without a U.S. GAAP reconciliation. A 20-F may alternatively use U.S. GAAP, or home-country GAAP with a reconciliation.

What is a 6-K, and how does it relate to the 20-F?

The 6-K is the FPI equivalent of an 8-K — used to furnish material information made public in the home country between annual 20-F filings, such as interim earnings, M&A, or leadership changes.

Learn / 20-f

What is a 20-F filing?

20-F is the SEC annual report a foreign private issuer (FPI) — a non-U.S. company with shares listed in the U.S. — files under the Securities Exchange Act. It is the foreign-issuer equivalent of the 10-K, with adaptations for non-U.S. accounting standards and governance practices.

Last updated: 2026-07-30. Source: SEC EDGAR.

Who files a 20-F

A foreign private issuer is a non-U.S. company that does not meet the SEC's definition of a U.S. domestic issuer — typically because its principal offices, directors, and shareholders are predominantly outside the U.S. FPIs include companies like Toyota, Novartis, Alibaba, ASML, and SAP that list ADRs or ordinary shares on U.S. exchanges.

The 20-F is filed annually within 4 months of fiscal year-end (compared to 60-90 days for U.S. domestic filers).

What's inside a 20-F

Item 3 — Key Information: selected financial data, capitalization, risk factors.
Item 4 — Information on the Company: business overview, organizational structure, property, plant, and equipment.
Item 5 — Operating & Financial Review: FPI equivalent of the 10-K MD&A.
Item 6 — Directors, Senior Management, Employees: governance disclosures, compensation summaries.
Item 7 — Major Shareholders & Related Party Transactions: substantial holders, transactions with affiliates.
Item 8 — Financial Information: consolidated statements + auditor report. Often IFRS-prepared (per IASB) without U.S. GAAP reconciliation — the SEC accepts IFRS-as-issued-by-the-IASB for FPIs.
Item 16 series — Audit committee, ethics code, principal accountant fees, off-balance-sheet arrangements, contractual obligations: additional disclosures requested by Sarbanes-Oxley as adapted for FPIs.

20-F vs. 10-K — the practical differences

Filer eligibility: 10-K = U.S. domestic; 20-F = foreign private issuer.
Accounting standard: 10-K requires U.S. GAAP; 20-F accepts IFRS, U.S. GAAP, or home-country GAAP with a reconciliation.
Filing deadline: 10-K within 60-90 days; 20-F within 4 months.
Frequency of interim reports: U.S. domestic files 10-Q quarterly; FPIs are not required to file quarterly — they instead file 6-K event-driven reports (and may also publish semi-annual or annual results per home-country rules).
Executive comp disclosure: FPIs disclose to the extent already disclosed in their home country — typically less granular than U.S. 10-K Summary Compensation Tables.

20-F/A and 6-K — the FPI ecosystem

Two related filings round out the FPI disclosure pattern:

20-F/A: amendment to a previously filed 20-F. SecFilingDex tracks 0 20-F/A filings.
6-K: the FPI equivalent of the 8-K — used to furnish material information made public in the home country between 20-F filings (interim earnings, M&A, leadership changes). SecFilingDex tracks 15 6-K filings.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a 20-F and a 10-K?: Both are annual reports, but the 10-K is for U.S. domestic issuers and requires U.S. GAAP, while the 20-F is for foreign private issuers and accepts IFRS or home-country GAAP with a reconciliation. The 10-K is due within 60-90 days of year-end; the 20-F within 4 months.
Who has to file a 20-F?: Foreign private issuers — non-U.S. companies with shares listed on a U.S. exchange that do not meet the SEC's definition of a U.S. domestic issuer, such as Toyota, Novartis, Alibaba, ASML, and SAP.
Do foreign private issuers file quarterly reports?: No. FPIs are not required to file the 10-Q quarterly. They instead furnish 6-K event-driven reports with material information made public in their home country, and may publish semi-annual or annual results per home-country rules.
Can a 20-F use IFRS instead of U.S. GAAP?: Yes. The SEC accepts IFRS as issued by the IASB for FPI 20-F filings without a U.S. GAAP reconciliation. A 20-F may alternatively use U.S. GAAP, or home-country GAAP with a reconciliation.
What is a 6-K, and how does it relate to the 20-F?: The 6-K is the FPI equivalent of an 8-K — used to furnish material information made public in the home country between annual 20-F filings, such as interim earnings, M&A, or leadership changes.

Our view

20-Fs are underused by U.S. analysts who default to 10-Ks. The most interesting FPI signal is comparing the 20-F's Operating & Financial Review against the same company's home-country annual report — sometimes management writes more candidly for home-country regulators. The 6-K stream is the better real-time signal for FPI material events; treat it like an 8-K queue.

See live data

Browse live 20-F filings — 23 filings indexed. Updated as new EDGAR submissions are ingested.

Sister-property applied analysis

SecFilingDex catalogs the filings. For applied analysis on the same SEC corpus — narrowed to tracked superinvestors with framework + POV — see the sister site:

HoldLens: Smart-money signals across 30 tracked superinvestors — Applied analysis surface — including the foreign issuers held by tracked managers.

Reading on filings

Understanding the form is step one; reading one is step two. These are the references that help with the second part.

Security Analysis — Benjamin Graham & David Dodd
The reference on reading a filing and valuing what is inside it. Dense, and still the book the rest cite.
Financial Shenanigans — Howard M. Schilit
How accounting manipulation actually shows up in disclosures — written around real filings and what gave them away.
Financial Statement Analysis — Martin S. Fridson & Fernando Alvarez
A working guide to the statements inside a 10-K or 20-F, including where the notes matter more than the headline numbers.
The Intelligent Investor — Benjamin Graham
The plain-language starting point if the filings are new to you and the vocabulary is the obstacle.
The Essays of Warren Buffett — Lawrence A. Cunningham (ed.)
Shareholder letters organised by theme — a filer's own account of what disclosure is for, from the reporting side.

Several of these are on Audible — free trial — Graham and Fridson both read well as audio if you are commuting.

Book links go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, SecFilingDex earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. The filings data on this site is free and never changes based on these links.

Glossary

20-F: Annual report under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 filed by foreign private issuers (FPIs). The foreign-issuer equivalent of the 10-K, accepting IFRS or home-country GAAP financial statements.
20-F/A: Amendment to a previously filed 20-F. Used to restate financials, correct errors, or add disclosure.
Foreign Private Issuer (FPI): A non-U.S. company with shares listed on a U.S. exchange that does not meet the SEC's definition of a U.S. domestic issuer. Eligible to use 20-F and 6-K instead of 10-K and 10-Q.
6-K: Event-driven report filed by foreign private issuers to furnish material information made public in their home country between annual 20-F filings. The FPI equivalent of an 8-K.
IFRS: International Financial Reporting Standards, issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Accepted by the SEC for FPI 20-F filings without U.S. GAAP reconciliation.