Sorry for the strong believers in Santa Claus but shorting is more complicated than most are thinking, a cash account is no guaranty that your shares are not lend out.
Most European investors, working with a European broker are overlooking the fact that their broker has a agent is the states, usually a broker on it self. And there is the problem A don’t (want to) know what B is doing. (On the end of the day, money don’t smell)
If your shares are lend out in a cash account (after receiving a certificate of ownership by your own broker) all your rights are (should be) protected including dividends, stock splits etc.
O yes there are some rules and regulations but most don’t care, even the market regulators have a painful neck looking the other way.
Tradefan has it on the right end when he writes “it does not work that way “ and for our Swedish friends, a Swedish broker is the same as other brokers, A don’t want to know what B does. BTW, a shorting operation is generally a well, long beforehand prepared operation.