This is an interesting area. I haven't thought much about it. But at a first glance (and please correct me if you are an expert) an investor with a short posi

This is an interesting area. I haven't thought much about it. But at a first glance (and please correct me if you are an expert) an investor with a short position has already sold his borrowed shares, with a promise to deliver back the same number of shares at a future date. He is a former shareholder, who has an obligation to a third party that depends on the reference stock price. What kind of protections such a person enjoys, I dunno. maybe there is a good law review article in that! edit: here's a link to a law review article more or less on this issue; as I suspected, it's complicated! 47 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1003 (2005-2006) https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/73965975.pdf https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/73965975.pdf