After almost a year of shadow boxing between politicians and bankers, Treasurer Scott Morrison's budget reveals the depth of rancour in the upper ranks of the Turnbull government toward the country's major banks and those who run them.

A bank levy that will raise $6.2 billion over the next four years is the centrepiece of a coordinated strike against the big four and Macquarie. The Treasurer's other significant moves include a new law that would impose $200 million fines for a single banker hiding misconduct from regulators and giving the prudential regulator the power to set the long-term remuneration of senior bankers.