that is of course IF everyone pulls certs and sends them, I for one have no intention of doing so. Others will not as well just due to the trouble involved (retirement account, fees, penalties, tax X 2, etc...)
How does a buy out go? I would assume the company tells all of the brokers to return the certs they hold on behalf of their customers and they they are financially responsible for the value of those certs set forth by the company.
I.E. If they believe that enough people have moved to the exchange, could they not just put a final offer on the table for the remaining shares and go private to run the exchange? It would put a final burden of proof to all of the brokers and if they made it a substantial offer then it would truly hurt those who had large amounts of phantom shares would it not?