< p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Warren rose to national prominence as an outspoken consumer advocate decrying Wall Street abuses and became the progressive movement's darling candidate in last fall's Senate elections. Like most freshman lawmakers, the Massachusetts Democrat has maintained a low profile during her first few months in office.

That's starting to change.

Warren championed the creation of a consumer agency after the financial meltdown. Now she's beginning to use her perch on the Senate Banking Committee to push regulators for tougher actions against errant banks.

Warren grilled Treasury Department officials Thursday about why there had been no criminal prosecution for alleged money laundering by British bank HSBC.

HSBC agreed last December to pay $1.9 billion to settle charges it helped Mexican drug traffickers, Iran and Libya move money around the world.