Form 20-F is the annual report filed by foreign private issuers: companies organized outside the US whose shares or depositary receipts trade in the US, and which are mostly owned or run outside it. It is due within four months of the end of the fiscal year.
How it differs from a 10-K
- Accounting. Financial statements can follow IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, without reconciling to US accounting rules.
- No 10-Qs. Foreign private issuers are not required to file quarterly reports. They furnish news, including interim results if they publish them at home, on Form 6-K, usually without XBRL financial data.
- No Forms 3, 4 or 5. Their insiders are exempt from the US insider reporting rules, and the companies are exempt from the US proxy rules.
Canadian companies that qualify can file a 40-F instead, based on their Canadian disclosure.
On Listed
Annual figures come from the 20-F's XBRL data, which uses the IFRS taxonomy where the company reports under IFRS. Quarterly figures for these companies are usually "not reported", because no quarterly XBRL data exists. See not reported.