Lesson 2 of 6
Reading a 20-F
A different annual report with its own numbered items, its own contents and its own calendar: a median of 107 days after the year end against 59 for a 10-K.
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 20-F covers the same ground as a 10-K under a different numbering, and carries several disclosures a 10-K does not.
- It arrives later: a median of 107 days after the fiscal year end against 59 days for a 10-K.
- There is no quarterly equivalent, so the gaps between disclosures are longer and less regular.
The form is unfamiliar rather than difficult. Learn where the numbering puts things once and a 20-F reads as quickly as a 10-K.
How long after the year end the annual report arrives
- Form 10-K, median · 8,180 filings59 days
- Form 40-F, median · 240 filings78 days
- Form 20-F, median · 1,608 filings107 days
The items, and where the familiar things went
| You want | 20-F item |
|---|---|
| Risk factors | 3.D |
| The business | 4.B |
| Properties | 4.D |
| Management's discussion | 5.A, with liquidity at 5.B and critical estimates at 5.E |
| Pay and board practices | 6.B and 6.C |
| Who owns it | 7.A, major shareholders |
| The financial statements | Item 8, then Item 18 |
| Market risk | Item 11 |
| The depositary's fees | 12.D |
| Controls and procedures | Item 15 |
The order is a legacy of the form's registration-statement roots, which is why Items 1, 2 and 9 are usually marked not applicable in an annual report.
What it carries that a 10-K does not
Capitalisation and indebtedness at 3.B. A summary of the capital structure in one place, which a 10-K makes you assemble from the balance sheet and the debt note.
Major shareholders at 7.A. A table of significant holders, which for a controlled company states the control directly rather than leaving it to a separate ownership filing.
A corporate governance comparison. Where a foreign private issuer follows home-country practice instead of the exchange's rules, it describes the differences. Petrobras's 20-F does this and states that it is a controlled company because more than a majority of its voting capital is held by the Brazilian federal government.
The depositary's fee schedule at 12.D, which is the only place the running cost of holding an ADR is written down.
The basis of accounting, on the cover page. A checkbox says US GAAP, IFRS as issued by the IASB, or other. One line, and it settles which standard the statements below are under.
The calendar
Seventy-one days is fast for a 20-F. The median across annual reports on record is 107 days, and a tenth of them arrive after 134. For a domestic filer the median is 59.
That gap is the practical cost of the status. A company's figures are older when you receive them, and any screen that treats a filing date as a proxy for freshness will rank foreign issuers differently for a reason that has nothing to do with their businesses.
Check yourself
Where are the risk factors in a 20-F?
- Item 1A, as in a 10-K
- Item 3.D, inside Key Information
- They are not required
Show the answer
Answer: B.
The numbering is a legacy of the form's registration-statement origins. Risk factors sit under Item 3 with capitalisation and indebtedness.How much later does a 20-F typically arrive than a 10-K?
- About a week
- About seven weeks at the median: 107 days after the year end against 59
- They arrive on the same schedule
Show the answer
Answer: B.
Measured across annual reports on record for fiscal 2024 or later. A tenth of 20-F filings arrive more than 134 days after the year end.How do you tell whether a 20-F's statements are under IFRS or US GAAP?
- By looking at the line item names
- A checkbox on the cover page names the basis of accounting
- By checking the auditor's country
Show the answer
Answer: B.
One line on the cover settles it, which is worth checking before comparing any figure with a domestic filer's.Sources
- Toyota Motor Corporation, Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2026, filed 2026-06-10: the table of contents, the cover-page basis of accounting checkbox, and Item 12.D.
- Petrobras, Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2025, filed 2026-04-09: the corporate governance comparison and the controlled-company statement.
- The product's own store of filed annual statements, read 2026-09-16: filing lags by form type across 10,028 annual filings for fiscal 2024 or later.
What this leaves out
- Item numbering is stable but what a company puts under each item varies, and several items are routinely marked not applicable.
- The filing lag figures are medians across filings on record here for fiscal 2024 and later, and a company's own history is a better guide to its own calendar.
- A 40-F is a different form again, available to eligible Canadian issuers, and it largely wraps the company's Canadian disclosure.
- Nothing here is advice about any security.