Recently one of my colleagues put together a ‘countdown’ calendar which, each morning, greets us with the number of days before the implementation of Basel II. That calendar, which as of today shows 88 (working) days to go, worries me for two reasons. First, at some point I will have to remind my colleague that Basel II is a journey, not a destination and that 1 January 2008 is only a milestone on that journey, although I concede a very important milestone. Second, the calendar highlights how little time we have to complete what is still a substantial amount to work to reach that milestone.