When I contacted my broker about ensuring my shares were not being lent out, one of the agents assured me that only shares held in a hedge fund or ownded by an institution could be lent out. Private shares owned by an individual could not be lent out. From that article, the share holders have started to request the physical share certificates, does this completely eliminate the possiblity of the shares being lent out?

I'm still a bit confused as to how a person can lay their hands on borrowed shares; both legaly and illegaly.

R.A.