Acquisition, holding, financing and sale of participations in other companies of any kind in Switzerland or abroad, with the exception of transactions prohibited by the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad (BewG); provision of trust services; assumption of representations; acquisition, holding, encumbrance and sale of real estate; in particular, the company may grant loans and other direct or indirect financing to its direct and indirect subsidiaries as well as to third parties, including its direct and indirect shareholders and their direct and indirect subsidiaries, including within the framework of cash pooling agreements, and provide security of any kind for their liabilities, including by way of pledges on or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or guarantees of any kind, whether remunerated or not.