"How do we determine if the blocks of 99's are not in fact much larger blocks that are excluded from that limit by that rule or some other loophole."
there's no way of knowing for sure.
"Could the financing of the buyback be done with temporary third party funds???"
as in borrowed money, yes. I don't think it's good for the company to borrow money for the buyback though.
"Company execs have loaned $$$ before, or an outside party could finance it through a MM/dealer in return for a percentage profit when hcpc is ready to actually acquire the shares. "
if it's a privately negotiated purchase then the MMs could accumulate all they want and offer it to the company...no matter how many MMs do it.
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