In the past, systemic risk had been thought of as involving a single large institution. In the recent cases, we invoked the systemic risk exception with respect to the system as a whole, thereby allowing assistance to flow to institutions of all sizes.
For its part, the Federal Reserve has also taken steps to assist smaller institutions. For example, all banks can borrow funds under the Federal Reserve Term Auction Facility, which operates much the same as the discount window, but offers longer terms. And Regulation D was recently modified to allow community banks to earn interest on excess reserves held in bankers' banks on a pass-through basis.