News: WBC UPDATE 1-Australia's NAB says returned $187 mln since June last year

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Dec 18 (Reuters) - National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) said on Wednesday it had returned A$276 million ($187.29 million) since last June to customers charged for services not rendered, as pressure on the country's top lenders remain unabated following a public probe into their misdeeds.

Australia's third-largest lender by market capitalisation, NAB currently faces prospective allegations of breaching anti-money laundering laws and has been reportedly questioned by the country's financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC on the same.

"We maintain a close and constructive relationship with AUSTRAC but know that we have not always met 100% of their requirements," said NAB Chairman Philip Chronican at the annual general meeting.

NAB has lost a lot of trust and significant changes need to be made, said Chronican.

Securities regulator Australian Securities Investment Commission on Tuesday sued NAB for wrongly charging customers for services not rendered.

These allegations are the latest to hit the country's financial sector after Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) was sued for breaching anti-money laundering laws.

The Australian financial sector is struggling after the damning Royal Commission report, which exposed the wrongdoings in the sector, and the lawsuits involving Westpac and NAB put the spotlight back on the big players.

NAB and its big banking peers have had to dole out billions of dollars to compensate aggrieved customers, with NAB alone setting aside a A$2.09 billion ($1.42 billion) pot.

($1 = 1.4736 Australian dollars)