Today In Finance: "London Whale" (JPM) Prosecution Hits Another Delay, And Treasury Secretary Tells Banks To Get Ready For Tough Trading Rule

Amid all the hoopla and excitement about the Twitter IPO, there were a few interesting developments in the banking world over the last couple of days that merit a mention.

From Washington, Bloomberg reports that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is ramping up pressure on Wall Street's banks to prepare for tough new trading regulations under the auspices of the so-called Volcker Rule. Bloomberg reported that Lew made the comments to bankers at a meeting last month. The Volcker Rule would ban certain proprietary trading at banks.

In New York, word emerged early Friday that New York's U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's prosecution of its case involving JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and its "London Whale" trading fiasco has hit another delay. Reuters reports that Spanish authorities have postponed a hearing to discuss the extradition of Spanish citizen Javier Martin-Artajo, whom Bharara's office indicted in September. The new hearing date is Nov. 15, Reuters reported.

In more JPMorgan news, a new report says that a former banker there who managed swindler Bernie Madoff's account at the firm testified in federal court that he was about to receive a $200 million loan from the bank very shortly before he was arrested. Bloomberg reported that employees of Madoff's firm sought the loan, which was twice its credit at the time.