The single most important criteria determining whether or not a bank was bailed out by was the personal and political closeness to the Fed or to the Congress of its senior management:

A new study by Ross professors Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura found that banks with connections to members of congressional finance committees and banks whose executives served on Federal Reserve boards were more likely to receive funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the federal government’s program to purchase assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector.

Further, their research shows that TARP investment amounts were positively related to banks’ political contributions and lobbying expenditures, and that, overall, the effect of political influence was strongest for poorly performing banks.

Hoocoodanode?

The process of bailing out the banks was an artifact of corruption and self-dealing.

H/t zero hedge