I don't know either. I've been wondering if it's largely because SVB is a weird bank. They were huge --- larger than American Express --- but with an unusually small and extraordinarily correlated based of depositors. I think it's hard to understate just how strange SVB's customer base was; the closest analogy I can come up with is the Last of Us zombies, all perfectly connected with fungus hyphae.

The situation unfolded over a weekend, after SVB shut down Friday afternoon. The FDIC attempted to find a buyer on Saturday, and got at least one interested party, but couldn't close a deal. The Administration was getting anxious over the possible fallout: tech companies not meeting payroll, possible banking contagion, who knows what else? Then Powell/Fed proposed some novel mechanisms for temporary rescue. [1]

They worked together to put out a joint press release, and Biden gave a down-to-earth, rough-and-tumble speech about protecting depositors and kicking the failed executives and bad-luck shareholders to the curb, because this is "how capitalism works". It was an unusually blunt attempt to preemptively push back at the perception that this guarantee of FDIC-uninsured deposits will be branded a 'bailout'. (I predict that this attempt will fail and this will widely be perceived as a 'bailout' in casual and political discourse, which is the exact forum at which they've aimed this message.)

After 2008, the public gained awareness of the consolidation -- both forced and emergent -- that occurs in response to these sorts of crises. Public opinion views these outcomes unfavorably, because they seem unfair and irreversible, albeit no palatable alternatives have emerged that are acceptable to both to the public and government and industry incumbents.

[1] https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-bank-failure-depos...

> why that didn't happen in this case

Buyers of banks in the last round got screwed. Dimon has been vocal about this. They inherit a string of liabilities that take a decade (or more) to resolve. Add to that, the number of private equity buyers for a $200bn bank is limited.