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. The relationship of shareholders with credit union are not client-based, they are co-operative, based on different principles and standards, in particular, on the principles of the law of obligations. Credit unions of the open type are still controlled by their members, but at the same time provide services to people who are not its members (external customers). International cooperation has been particularly felt since the days when Alphonse Desjardins began the activity on development of credit union movement in North America. 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. Until the mid-XX century, credit unions in the United States had little assets that did not exceed, as a rule, 100 thousand dollars Credit unions appeared in England in the 19th century. In 1844 a group of workers from Rochdale established the first cooperative. Shareholders in corporate organizations are basic credit unions, besides the same union can be a shareholder of several corporate organizations. Unlike banks credit unions limit their activities to a closed circle of people.