In the U.S., credit unions have a clear organizational structure. All credit unions belong to one or the other parent credit union (there are 35 of them in the U.S.). Principles of cooperative democracy and interaction were adequate to the purposes for which people joined credit unions. Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. The value of credit unions is not limited to the role of the economic agent - they are an important element of the social structure and a factor of social stability and progress. The supreme body of the World Council of Credit Unions is the Assembly, which elects the president and the board of directors of WOCCU. A potential new member of a credit union must submit a recommendation of shareholders in which the referee becomes a warrant of a future member of the credit union.