Lesson 7 of 8
A different annual report
Toyota files a 20-F, not a 10-K, and no quarterly reports at all. Canadian National files a 40-F. Both are US-listed and both run a different calendar.
By Javier Sanz
Founder of ValueScreener. Built Ninety Nine, a securities services provider, and sold it to a tier-one global bank; ran operations and internationalization at Alpaca, the brokerage API.
Who writes thisEditorial processLinkedIn (opens in a new tab)X (opens in a new tab)
In one minute
- A foreign private issuer files an annual report on Form 20-F, or Form 40-F under the Canadian multijurisdictional system, instead of a 10-K.
- It files no 10-Qs. Interim information arrives on Form 6-K, on the issuer's home-country schedule.
- It may report in its own currency and under IFRS rather than US GAAP, which changes what a figure means before any analysis begins.
Many companies listed on US exchanges are not US companies. Their reporting obligations are real and they are different, and a reader who expects a 10-K will not find one.
Toyota, Shell, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Unilever and Canadian National all trade on US exchanges and all appear in the company catalogue this product publishes. None of them files a 10-K.
Two foreign issuers, two annual forms, no 10-Qs
Toyota Motor Corporation
- Annual report on Form 20-F, 25 of them in the index.
- Fiscal year ends 31 March.
- The 20-F for the year ended 31 March 2026 was filed 10 June 2026.
- 624 Form 6-K filings in the same index.
Canadian National Railway
- Annual report on Form 40-F, 25 of them in the index.
- Fiscal year ends 31 December.
- The 40-F for 2025 was filed 4 February 2026.
- 572 Form 6-K filings in the same index.
Both are listed on the NYSE. Neither files a 10-K or a 10-Q.
The 20-F
A foreign private issuer's annual report is Form 20-F, and it is due within four months of the fiscal year end. Toyota's for the year ended 31 March 2026 was filed on 10 June 2026, which is 71 days.
The content is comparable to a 10-K in substance: business description, risk factors, operating and financial review, financial statements, directors and officers, and major shareholders. The item numbering is different, so a reader who navigates a 10-K by item number has to relearn it.
The financial statements may be prepared under IFRS as issued by the IASB rather than under US GAAP, and no reconciliation to US GAAP is required. They may also be presented in the issuer's own currency.
The 40-F and the Canadian system
Canada has a reciprocal arrangement with the United States under which eligible Canadian issuers file their home-country annual disclosure with the SEC, wrapped in Form 40-F.
Canadian National Railway's 40-F for the year ended 31 December 2025 was filed on 4 February 2026, 35 days after the year end. A 40-F is therefore often a Canadian annual information form and Canadian financial statements, delivered through an SEC form.
The 6-K, and what it is not
Form 6-K is the interim channel. It carries whatever the issuer makes public in its home market or files with its home exchange, furnished to the SEC promptly.
It is not a quarterly report. There is no prescribed content, no fixed schedule and no requirement that it contain financial statements at all. Toyota's index shows 624 of them, and what is in each depends on what Japan required that week.
That is why comparing a foreign issuer's interim disclosure with a US company's 10-Q is comparing a mandated document with a passthrough.
What it means for research
Three practical consequences.
The reporting currency may not be dollars, so a figure has to be converted before it can be compared, and the rate used matters. This product reads the reported currency from the statement rather than inferring it from the exchange, because the exchange only says where the shares trade.
The accounting basis may be IFRS, so the lessons on LIFO, on research capitalisation and on impairment reversal do not transfer unchanged.
And there is less of it. No quarterly report means two data points a year rather than four, and a reader monitoring a thesis on a foreign issuer is working with half the observations.
Check yourself
What does a foreign private issuer file instead of a 10-K?
- A 10-K with an exemption
- A Form 20-F, or a Form 40-F under the Canadian multijurisdictional system
- Nothing; foreign issuers are exempt
Show the answer
Answer: B.
Toyota files a 20-F and Canadian National a 40-F. Both are annual reports filed with the SEC and neither is a 10-K.How often does a foreign private issuer file a quarterly report with the SEC?
- Four times a year, on Form 10-Q
- Never. Interim material arrives on Form 6-K, on the home country's schedule
- Twice a year, on Form 20-F
Show the answer
Answer: B.
There is no US quarterly requirement. A 6-K furnishes what the issuer made public at home, with no prescribed content or timing.Why does the reporting currency have to be read from the statement rather than inferred from the exchange?
- Exchanges do not publish currency data
- A company listed on a US exchange may report in its own currency, so the listing venue says nothing about the reporting currency
- All foreign issuers report in dollars
Show the answer
Answer: B.
The exchange says where the shares trade. Toyota is listed on the NYSE and files a 20-F, and the currency of its financial statements is a property of the statements.Sources
- Form 20-F, for the annual report of a foreign private issuer and the four-month filing deadline.
- Form 40-F and the multijurisdictional disclosure system for eligible Canadian issuers.
- Form 6-K, for reports furnished by foreign private issuers.
- Rule 3b-4 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, for the definition of a foreign private issuer.
- EDGAR submissions indexes read 16 September 2026: Toyota Motor Corporation, CIK 1094517, for 25 Forms 20-F, 624 Forms 6-K, the 31 March fiscal year end and the 20-F for the year ended 31 March 2026 filed 10 June 2026, accession 0001193125-26-264811; and Canadian National Railway Company, CIK 16868, for 25 Forms 40-F, 572 Forms 6-K and the 40-F for 2025 filed 4 February 2026, accession 0001104659-26-010352.
What this leaves out
- The filing counts are from two indexes read on one day, covering what those indexes returned rather than each company's whole filing history.
- Foreign private issuer status is tested annually and can be lost, at which point the company files domestic forms instead.
- A 20-F filer may prepare its statements under US GAAP, under IFRS as issued by the IASB, or under home-country standards with a reconciliation. This lesson describes the common cases rather than all of them.
- Nothing here is legal advice, and nothing here is advice about any security.