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.). National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) - an independent federal agency, based in Washington (State of Columbia), established by the U.S. Congress to oversee the federal credit union system. Today in the UK there are about 700 credit unions with assets exceeding 200 million pounds. 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).