When Silicon Valley Bank was crumbling last week, eyes turned to the biggest lender in the country—the bank that had stepped in to save failing competitors during the financial crisis in 2008, whose CEO has been called “America’s banker” and whose views and decisions influence the corporate world.

But JPMorgan Chase was nowhere to be found—and its absence from the SVB crisis was purposeful, according to people familiar with the matter. JPMorgan didn’t show up as an emergency lender to SVB and didn’t bid on SVB after the bank failed and came up for government auction, the people said.