Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. Income received by the credit union shall be distributed among the shareholders or spent for the depreciation of services, that is, are the most effective means of meeting the needs of shareholders. Credit unions appeared in England in the 19th century. In 1844 a group of workers from Rochdale established the first cooperative. In the case of default the shareholder - individual will respond with its property and, in addition, is jointly and severally liable with the credit union's commitments. U.S. credit unions have another significant difference from the credit cooperatives of farmers: the first have major proportion of short-term loans, the second - long and mostly in real estate.