Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. The first credit union in the United States was founded in 1909. by the group of Franco-American Catholics in Manchester, New Hampshire, and was called "Cooperative Credit Association of St. Mary. " Representative organization, leading the coordination work in the field of development of both global and national credit union movement is the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) established in 1971 (headquartered in Madison, USA). Members of credit unions place in credit unions usually free fund balances, ie those that remain after expenses devoted to education of children, the acquisition of new properties, additional pension benefits, etc. Cooperation between credit unions, how they would not have been named, took place always, from the moment when the movement moved outside one credit union. 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. International cooperation has been particularly felt since the days when Alphonse Desjardins began the activity on development of credit union movement in North America. The supreme body of the World Council of Credit Unions is the Assembly, which elects the president and the board of directors of WOCCU. Today, the World Council of Credit Unions is represented as members four regional confederations and twelve national associations.