any financial activity, and in particular factoring, for its own account and for the account of affiliated companies in Switzerland and abroad, excluding any banking activity within the meaning of the Federal Act of 8 November 1934 on Banks and Savings Banks. Financial activity includes, in particular, the granting and obtaining of loans, liquidity management and currency protection. The company also aims to provide financial and administrative services to affiliated companies in Switzerland and abroad. The company may also carry out, for its own account or for the account of affiliated companies, all financial, commercial and securities transactions, directly or indirectly related to its purpose or likely to promote it. Furthermore, the company may grant loans or other financial benefits to its direct or indirect shareholders and affiliated companies (up- and cross-stream undertakings), including concluding cash pooling agreements, and provide guarantees of any kind on its assets, including by way of pledges or fiduciary transfers or by way of guarantees of any kind, to secure the obligations of its shareholders or affiliated companies, in each case with or without consideration and even if these legal transactions are exclusively in the interest of third parties.