Something odd certainly appears to have happened.

Something odd certainly appears to have happened. If the only problem was that some shares were issued after the record date of June 30 last year, then DTCC and FINRA should not have had any problem stepping in at a couple different times to rectify or at least mitigate the situation before it became so chaotic. It would have been a relatively simple matter to step in and say 'these shares are ineligible for the dividend because they were issued after June 30'. Instead DTCC adamantly refused to intervene when they had the opportunity last August, and the assumption was that DTCC didn't want to admit an error or negligence on their part. But maybe they were fully aware that something bigger had happened. DTCC did submit highly confidential data under seal in the NE case, and COR deposed DTCC in May. There is most likely information already on the public record that would definitively answer your questions. For now we wait for transparency, but that sealed data is the reason I think the NE case will eventually move forward - and the data will come to light.