Some credit unions are closed, serving only their members. However, the more and more popularitywin cooperatives of open type. Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. First central bank of credit unions appeared in 1876. Credit unions began to appear rapidly in many European countries. The main advantage of credit unions consists in transparency, controllability, governance for shareholders. As of the January 1, 2012 the national associations and confederations unite more than 196 million members participating in the 51,013 credit unions in 100 countries. Shareholders in corporate organizations are basic credit unions, besides the same union can be a shareholder of several corporate organizations.