UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, DC 20549 FORM 20-F ☐ REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) or 12(g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 OR ☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 OR ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from __________ to __________ OR ☐ SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Date of event requiring the shell company report __________ Commission file number: 001-31269 Alcon Inc. (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter) N/A (Translation of Registrant's name into English) Switzerland (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) Rue Louis-d'Affry 6, 1701 Fribourg, Switzerland (Address of principal executive office) Royce Bedward, Chemin de Blandonnet 8, 1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland; Tel: +41 58 911 20 00; Fax +41 58 911 32 22 (Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person) Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act. Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered SIX Swiss Exchange Ordinary Shares, nominal value CHF 0.04 per share ALC New York Stock Exchange Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act. None Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act. None Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer's classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report. 489,219,355 Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐ If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐ No ☒ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," and "emerging growth company" and in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large Accelerated Filer ☒ Accelerated Filer ☐ Non-accelerated Filer ☐ Emerging Growth Company ☐ If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐ † The term "new or revised financial accounting standard" refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012. Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒ Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing: International Financial Reporting Standards U.S. GAAP ☐ ☒ Other ☐ as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board If "Other" has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐ If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒ INDEX Page Introduction and Use of Certain Terms 1 Market Information 1 Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements 2 PART I Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers 4 Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable 5 Item 3. Key Information 6 Item 4. Information on the Company 28 Item 4A. Unresolved Staff Comments 52 Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects 53 Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees 80 Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions 138 Item 8. Financial Information 139 Item 9. The Offer and Listing 141 Item 10. Additional Information 142 Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 153 Item 12. Description of Securities Other than Equity Securities 154 PART II Item 13. Defaults, Dividend Arrearages and Delinquencies 155 Item 14. Material Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of Proceeds 156 Item 15. Controls and Procedures 157 Item 16A. Audit Committee and Financial Expert 158 Item 16B. Code of Ethics 158 Item 16C. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 158 Item 16D. Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees 159 Item 16E. Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers 160 Item 16F. Change in Registrant's Certifying Accountant 161 Item 16G. Corporate Governance 162 Item 16H. Mine Safety Disclosure 162 PART III Item 17. Financial Statements 163 Item 18. Financial Statements 163 Item 19. Exhibits 164 Consolidated Financial Statements of Alcon Inc. F-1 INTRODUCTION AND USE OF CERTAIN TERMS Alcon Inc. publishes Consolidated Financial Statements expressed in US dollars. Our Consolidated Financial Statements responsive to Item 18 of this Annual Report filed on Form 20-F with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Annual Report") are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"). "Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects", together with “Item 4.B. Business Overview” and “Item 6.D. Employees”, constitute the Operating and Financial Review ("Rapport annuel"), as defined by the Swiss Code of Obligations. Unless the context requires otherwise, the words "we", "our", "us", "Alcon", "Company" and similar words or phrases in this Annual Report refer to Alcon Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries and the words "Novartis", "Novartis Group" and "Former Parent" refer to Novartis AG and its consolidated affiliates. The term "Alcon Division" means the Alcon business as it was operated under Novartis. The term "Spin-off" refers to the distribution of a dividend-in-kind of Alcon shares to Novartis shareholders and ADR holders as approved by Novartis shareholders at their Annual General Meeting held on February 28, 2019. In this Annual Report, references to the "eye care market" are to the eye care market in which we participate, including the sale of ophthalmic surgical devices, contact lenses and ocular health products, but not including the sale of spectacles and prescription ophthalmic pharmaceutical products; references to "United States dollars", "US dollars", "USD" or "$" are to the lawful currency of the United States of America, and references to "CHF" are to Swiss francs, the lawful currency of Switzerland; references to "Latin America" are to Central and South America, including the Caribbean, unless the context otherwise requires; references to "associates" are to our employees; references to the "SEC" are to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, references to the "FDA" are to the US Food and Drug Administration, and references to "EMA" are to the European Medicines Agency, an agency of the EU; references to the "NYSE" are to the New York Stock Exchange, and references to the "SIX" are to the SIX Swiss Exchange; references to "AT-IOL" mean advanced technology intraocular lenses; and references to "Alcon shares" or "our shares" are to Alcon ordinary shares, nominal value CHF 0.04 per share, with ticker symbol "ALC." All product names appearing in italics are trademarks owned by or licensed to Alcon or its subsidiaries. Product names identified by a "®" or a "™" are trademarks that are not owned by or licensed to Alcon or its subsidiaries and are the property of their respective owners. MARKET INFORMATION This Annual Report contains certain industry and market data that were obtained from third-party sources, such as industry surveys and industry publications, including, but not limited to, publications by Market Scope, GfK and Nielsen. This Annual Report also contains other industry and market data, including market sizing estimates, growth and other projections and information regarding our competitive position, prepared by our management on the basis of such industry sources and our management's knowledge of and experience in the industry and markets in which we operate (including management's estimates and assumptions relating to such industry and markets based on that knowledge). Our management has developed its knowledge of such industry and markets through its experience and participation in these markets. In addition, industry surveys and industry publications generally state that the information they contain has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but that the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed and that any projections they contain are based on a number of significant assumptions.