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.). Some credit unions are closed, serving only their members. However, the more and more popularitywin cooperatives of open type. When organizing the credit union it is important that people know each other and know the extent to which each of them is trustworthy. Over 30% of the assets of credit unions are investments in government securities, certificates of deposit of banks and savings loan associations, as well as in the parent credit unions, and other risk-free investments. 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. Initially, the target groups of credit unions were farmers (Raiffeisen), and now they include both individuals (credit unions), and organizations. Standards by which credit unions build their work do not coincide with the standards and regulations of consumer cooperation of the usual type. The specifics of credit unions and, in some sense, their uniqueness lies in the fact that they work not for profit and do not appropriate profit. Unlike banks credit unions limit their activities to a closed circle of people.