Historically, credit unions were preceded by widespread development of credit cooperation in many countries of Europe and America. 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. Among the U.S. credit unions, there are three groups that differ in terms of assets, shareholders, and business services. Contributions from of shareholders in credit unions in no way can be considered as borrowed funds, they come from the shareholders and for the shareholders and can not be used to provide services to third parties. Credit cooperatives and credit unions exist in many different forms. The main differences relate to the nature of the membership and the opening of a credit institution. Credit union as a consumer cooperative operates on the principles of equality of all its members. Corporate alliances are intermediaries between credit unions and financial markets.