I read it as follows:
Bank of America Corporation and its related bodies corporated (Merrill Lynch) became a substantial holder on November 18th (= holding or having interest in at least 5% of the voting shares)
because- they own 160,000 shares (by the way: less than me, poor bank
) - they borrowed 97,624 + 2,641,652 shares
Total: 2,899,276 shares, which lead to a voting power of 5.66% (hence the announcement)
We do not know the nature of the lending agreements. It could be short selling, hedging, arbitrage or other strategies. The number of short positions (shares) as of November 17th is: 563,157 (much lower than the above sum). The trading volume has been low since 10th November, so the above borrowed shares have apparently not been sold in the meantime. That would have been the case if the plan was to short CNQ, wouldn't it? In addition the securities lender has the right to recall assets at any time. This applies to all (!) borrowed shares. This clause is not good for a shorting strategy, is it?
My personal conclusion: the ann has nothing to do with the return of previously lent shares. And it has nothing to do with short selling.
(20min delay)