mohanv (asker) May 11, 2014:

rkillings Thank you for the help

rkillings May 10, 2014:

decoding help France has a system of registering equity securities that no other country has copied. Shares can be held in bearer form ('au porteur') or in one of two registered forms: 'au nominatif pur' ("pure registered") or 'au nominatif administré' ("administered registered". If I remember them correctly, these EN terms are semi-official, i.e., used by France's AMF.) The difference between the registered forms turns on who maintains the share register, the company itself or an authorised financial intermediary.
That difference is not inconsequential when it comes to borrowing and lending shares. This would seem to explain why it is cropping up in your context.