What is a 6-K? Foreign interim reports, explained
A 6-K is how foreign private issuers furnish interim and event-driven information to the SEC — roughly the foreign equivalent of a 10-Q or 8-K.
How foreign issuers report between annual filings
A 6-K is the filing foreign private issuers use to furnish information to the SEC between their annual 20-F reports. It's the rough foreign equivalent of a domestic company's 10-Q or 8-K rolled into one flexible form.
What it contains
There's no single fixed format. A 6-K passes along whatever the company has already made public in its home market or to its home-country regulator — for example:
- Half-year or interim financial results.
- Press releases and earnings announcements.
- Changes to the board or senior management.
- Material agreements or corporate actions.
"Furnished," not "filed"
Legally a 6-K is furnished rather than filed, a technical distinction that affects its liability treatment. The practical takeaway for investors: 6-K contents are less standardized than a 10-Q, and the financials may or may not be in structured form.
Why it matters
For U.S.-listed foreign companies, the 6-K is where interim news shows up. Because the data varies by company and country, FiledFeed surfaces the filing and links to the source documents on SEC.gov; structured financials appear when the company includes them.
See the latest 6-K filings →