How does a 6-K differ from an 8-K?

The key difference is legal status: 6-Ks are 'furnished' to the SEC rather than 'filed,' which means they carry different liability under securities laws. 6-Ks also have no specific item numbers or exact triggers - companies submit whatever material information they've published in their home country. The timing requirement is 'promptly' rather than within 4 business days.

What does 'furnished' vs 'filed' mean?

When a document is 'filed' with the SEC, it is subject to full liability under Section 18 of the Exchange Act - investors can sue for material misstatements. When a document is 'furnished,' it has lesser liability. Most 6-Ks are furnished, not filed. However, some 6-Ks (like those containing earnings releases incorporated by reference into a 20-F) are specifically designated as 'filed.'

Foreign private issuers - non-US companies listed on US stock exchanges. This includes companies like Alibaba, TSMC, Novo Nordisk, Shell, SAP, Sony, and hundreds of other international companies that trade on NYSE, Nasdaq, or as ADRs.

What Is a 6-K Filing? Current Reports for Foreign Companies

Q: What is a 6-K filing?

A 6-K is a current report filed by foreign private issuers (non-US companies listed on US exchanges) to report material events. It's the international equivalent of the 8-K. Common triggers include earnings announcements, management changes, acquisitions, and material press releases.

If you own shares in a foreign company listed on a US exchange - Alibaba, Novo Nordisk, ASML, or Toyota, for example - you’ve probably seen 6-K filings appear on SEC EDGAR. The 6-K is the current events report for foreign private issuers, serving roughly the same function as the 8-K does for US domestic companies.

But the 6-K works differently from the 8-K in important ways. Understanding those differences will help you interpret 6-K filings correctly and know what level of reliance to place on the disclosures.

What is a 6-K?

A 6-K (formally “Report of Foreign Private Issuer Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16”) is a current report filed by foreign private issuers whenever they make material information available to their home country regulators, shareholders, or the public.

The underlying principle is pragmatic: foreign companies are already required to disclose material information in their home countries. The 6-K ensures that this same information reaches US investors on EDGAR without forcing companies to operate an entirely parallel US disclosure system.

Who files a 6-K?

Foreign private issuers - non-US companies with securities listed on US exchanges or registered under the Exchange Act. A company qualifies as a foreign private issuer if more than 50% of its voting shares are held by non-US persons, among other criteria.

Major 6-K filers include virtually every large non-US company listed in the US:

From China and Asia, that includes Alibaba, JD.com, Baidu, TSMC, Sony, and Toyota. From Europe, major filers include Novo Nordisk, ASML, Shell, SAP, Novartis, AstraZeneca, and Unilever. From emerging markets, companies like Infosys, MercadoLibre, and Sea Limited also file 6-Ks.

Canadian companies typically use the 40-F for annual reports and file equivalent current reports under similar rules - but most Canadian reporting stays under Canadian securities law rather than through 6-Ks.

What triggers a 6-K?

Unlike the 8-K, which has specific numbered Items (Item 2.02 for earnings, Item 5.02 for leadership changes, etc.), the 6-K has no prescribed list of triggers. The rule requires companies to submit a 6-K for any material information that the company:

Makes public in its home country according to applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements
Files with a foreign stock exchange on which its securities are listed
Distributes to its security holders

In practice, common triggers for 6-K filings include:

Earnings and financial results are among the most common triggers, typically in the form of quarterly and semi-annual press releases. Note that foreign private issuers are not required to file quarterly 10-Qs, so a 6-K earnings release may be the only quarterly financial update for a foreign company.

Material press releases also generate 6-Ks. This includes product launches, partnerships, major contracts, government approvals, or other announcements that the company deems material. Management changes such as CEO or CFO departures and board changes trigger filings, as do acquisitions and divestitures when a company announces a material deal.

Regulatory actions, including material government investigations, regulatory decisions, or legal proceedings, are another common category. Finally, any filing made with the company’s primary home country stock exchange (Tokyo Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, etc.) that is deemed material will also be submitted as a 6-K.

6-K vs 8-K: the key differences

	6-K	8-K
Who files	Foreign private issuers	US domestic companies
Specific triggers	No - whatever is public in home country	Yes - SEC-specified Item numbers
Timing requirement	“Promptly”	Within 4 business days
Legal status	“Furnished” (usually)	“Filed”
Item numbers	No	Yes (2.02, 5.02, etc.)
Quarterly reports	No (6-Ks substitute for 10-Qs)	N/A

“Promptly” vs 4 business days

The 8-K requires filing within 4 business days of a triggering event. The 6-K requires submission “promptly” after the information is made public in the home country. In practice, this means 6-Ks often appear on EDGAR within a day or two of the home-country announcement, but the obligation is more flexible.

No item numbers

This is a practical difference that matters when reading 6-Ks. An 8-K filing’s title tells you immediately what happened (e.g., “8-K: Results of Operations and Financial Condition”). A 6-K’s title is often just “6-K” with no description, and you must open the document to see what it contains. Some companies include a brief description in the subject line, but this is inconsistent.

Furnished vs filed

This is the most legally significant difference. Most 6-Ks are “furnished” to the SEC rather than “filed.” The distinction matters because:

Filed documents are subject to full liability under Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act, meaning investors who bought or sold based on a material misstatement in a filed document can sue for damages. Furnished documents have a lower standard. They are still subject to general anti-fraud rules (Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5), but the Section 18 liability doesn’t apply.

In practice, earnings releases in 6-Ks are almost always furnished, not filed - the same as earnings releases in US 8-Ks. When a foreign company explicitly incorporates a 6-K by reference into its 20-F annual report, that 6-K effectively becomes filed for purposes of the annual report.

How to read a 6-K

Since 6-Ks have no standard format or item numbers, approach them differently than 8-Ks:

Start by checking the cover page. The first page of a 6-K often identifies the nature of the enclosed document (“the Company is furnishing the following press release…”).

Then look at the exhibit. Like 8-Ks, much of the substance is in the attached exhibit. An earnings 6-K typically attaches the earnings press release. A disclosure 6-K might attach a translated stock exchange announcement.

Watch for language differences. Many 6-Ks are translated from the company’s home language. Translation can sometimes obscure nuances or create ambiguities that wouldn’t appear in an original-language filing. For major companies, investor relations teams review translations carefully, but this is less true for smaller filers.

Also check for the GAAP reconciliation. Companies reporting under IFRS that want US investors to understand their results often include tables reconciling their numbers to US GAAP equivalents (showing how results would look under US accounting rules) in their earnings 6-Ks.

Finding 6-K filings on EDGAR

6-K filings are on EDGAR and free to access. To find them:

Go to sec.gov and search for the company name
Filter form type to “6-K”
The most recent filings appear first

Because foreign companies file many 6-Ks throughout the year (sometimes dozens), EDGAR’s listing can be long. Use the date filter to find the most recent ones, and look for those with exhibit descriptions suggesting earnings or material events.