(Reuters) -Australia’s corporate watchdog on Monday launched civil penalty proceedings against National Australia Bank (OTC:), the country’s second-largest lender, for failing to respond to hundreds of financial hardship applications within the legally mandated time frame. Shares in NAB slipped as much as 1.9% to A$38.98 in early trade, largely in-line with a 1.2% fall in the broader financial sub-index. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) claims that NAB and