Like any financial institution, credit unions have the financial resources. Specialization of credit unions to provide financial services to its shareholders requires a particularly strict regulation of membership and acceptable activities. 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. In some cases, the initiators of credit unions can be trade unions, associations such as social support centers and others.