I. – To achieve their purpose, housing finance companies may:
1° Grant loans to any credit institution guaranteed by the remittance, assignment or pledging of the receivables referred to in II, in accordance with the provisions of articles L. 211-36 to L. 211-40 or articles L. 313-23 to L. 313-35, whether or not these receivables are professional in nature;
2° Acquire promissory notes issued by any credit institution under the terms and conditions defined in articles L. 313-43 to L. 313-48 and which, by way of derogation from article L. 313-42, use receivables referred to in II of this article;
3° To grant housing loans as defined in II above.
II. – Housing loans granted or financed by housing finance companies are :
1° Intended, in whole or in part, to finance a residential property located in France or in another Member State of the European Union or another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or in a State benefiting from the highest level of credit quality established by an external credit assessment body recognised by the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution under the conditions set out in Article L. 511-44;
2° And guaranteed by :
a) A first-ranking mortgage or a property security interest providing a guarantee that is at least equivalent ;
b) Or a guarantee given by a credit institution, finance company or insurance company, all of which have at least the second level of credit quality established by an external credit assessment body recognised by the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution pursuant to the provisions of Article L. 511-44.
III. – Housing finance companies may acquire and own any immovable or movable property necessary for the fulfilment of their purpose or arising from the collection of their receivables.
IV. – They may not hold equity interests.