Freshman senator with senior pluck takes on the financial industry

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the newest member of the Senate Banking Committee, waited patiently for her first chance to question top financial regulators at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill.

When her turn finally came after 90 minutes, Warren quickly showed she wouldn't be following the custom that a freshman senator be seen and not heard.

After some pleasantries, the longtime consumer advocate and Wall Street critic lit into the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and officials from four other agencies for their practice of allowing big banks to settle government allegations of wrongdoing out of court.

"I'm really concerned that too-big-to-fail has become too big for trial," said Warren, 63, who chastised regulators for treating financial executives better than average Americans.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-elizabeth-warren-senate-20130511,0,4020777.story