Fund of Mutual Financial Aid of the credit union can be extended by sponsorship contributions from businesses, organizations, including on a returnable basis. Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. To date, credit unions - virtually the only form of financial institution where people can quickly and without any problems get a relatively inexpensive cash loan. Today in the UK there are about 700 credit unions with assets exceeding 200 million pounds. 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. The supreme body of the World Council of Credit Unions is the Assembly, which elects the president and the board of directors of WOCCU.