Form 8-K is a very broad form used to notify investors in United States public companies of specified events that may be important to shareholders or the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. This is one of the most common types of forms filed with the SEC. Publicly reporting companies generally have four business days to file Form 8-K after an event triggers the filing requirement, although a filing made solely to satisfy Regulation FD may be due sooner. Form 8-K is required to be filed by public companies with the SEC pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.For a list of events that would trigger a Form 8-K to be filed, see the Official SEC Form 8-K Summary, briefly below, and this fully annotated Form 8-K, which contains links to all rules and SEC guidance applicable to the form.
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When Form 8-K is required Form 8-K is used to notify investors of a current event. These types of events include: signing, amending or terminating material definitive agreements not made in the ordinary course of business, bankruptcies or receiverships mine shutdowns or violations of mine health and safety laws consummation of a material asset acquisition or sale results of operations and financial condition, creating certain financial obligations, such as incurrence of material debt triggering events that accelerate material obligations (such as defaults on a loan) costs associated with exit or disposal plans (layoffs, shutting down a plant, or material change in services or outlets) material impairments delisting from a securities exchange or failing to satisfy listing requirements unregistered equity sales (private placements) modifications to shareholder rights change in accountants determinations that previously issued financial statements cannot be relied upon change in control senior officer appointments and departures director elections and departures amendments to certificate/articles of incorporation or bylaws changes in fiscal year trading suspension under employee benefit plans amendments or waivers of code of ethics changes in shell company status results of shareholder votes disclosures applicable to issuers of asset-backed securities disclosures necessary to comply with Regulation FD other material events certain financial statements and other exhibits.
Investors should always read any 8-K filings that are made by companies in which they are invested. These reports are often material to the company, and frequently contain information that will affect the share price.
Reading Form 8-K Typically an 8-K filing will only have two major parts: the name and description of the event and any exhibits that are relevant. The name and description of the event contains all the information that the company considers relevant to shareholders and the SEC. It is important to read this information, as it has been deemed "material" by the company. Any exhibits that are relevant may include financial statements, press releases, data tables, or other information that is referenced in the description of the event.
Form 8-K items The 8-K items are defined in the following table.
Section 1 Registrant's Business and Operations Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement Item 1.02 Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement Item 1.03 Bankruptcy or Receivership Item 1.04 Mine Safety - Reporting of Shutdowns and Patterns of ViolationsItem 1.05Cybersecurity Incidents Section 2 Financial Information Item 2.01 Completion of Acquisition or Disposition of Assets Item 2.02 Results of Operations and Financial Condition Item 2.03 Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant Item 2.04 Triggering Events That Accelerate or Increase a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement Item 2.05 Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities Item 2.06 Material Impairments Section 3 Securities and Trading Markets Item 3.01 Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing Item 3.02 Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities Item 3.03 Material Modification to Rights of Security Holders Section 4 Matters Related to Accountants and Financial Statements Item 4.01 Changes in Registrant's Certifying Accountant Item 4.02 Non-Reliance on Previously Issued Financial Statements or a Related Audit Report or Completed Interim Review Section 5 Corporate Governance and Management Item 5.01 Changes in Control of Registrant Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers Item 5.03 Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year Item 5.04 Temporary Suspension of Trading Under Registrant's Employee Benefit Plans Item 5.05 Amendment to Registrant's Code of Ethics, or Waiver of a Provision of the Code of Ethics Item 5.06 Change in Shell Company Status Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders Item 5.08 Shareholder Director Nominations Section 6 Asset-Backed Securities Item 6.01 ABS Informational and Computational Material Item 6.02 Change of Servicer or Trustee Item 6.03 Change in Credit Enhancement or Other External Support Item 6.04 Failure to Make a Required Distribution Item 6.05 Securities Act Updating Disclosure Section 7 Regulation FD Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure Section 8 Other Events Item 8.01 Other Events (The registrant can use this Item to report events that are not specifically called for by Form 8-K, that the registrant considers to be of importance to security holders.) Section 9 Financial Statements and Exhibits Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
Historical Form 8-K items Prior to August 23, 2004, 8-K items were filed under different item numbers. Those historical items are displayed in the table below.
Item 1 Changes in Control of Registrant Item 2 Acquisition or Disposition of Assets Item 3 Bankruptcy or Receivership Item 4 Changes in Registrant's Certifying Accountant Item 5 Other Events Item 6 Resignation of Registrant's Directors Item 7 Financial Statements and Exhibits Item 8 Change in Fiscal Year Item 9 Regulation FD Disclosure Item 10 Amendments to the Registrant's Code of Ethics Item 11 Temporary Suspension of Trading Under Registrant's Employee Benefit Plans Item 12 Results of Operations and Financial Condition
References
External links Form 8-K