In the UK, the Gambling Commission has released a report detailing its activities over the past twelve months that revealed it approved 3,428 operators with 4,199 operating licenses.

The Gambling Commission, which was established in 2005 and took over the role previously played by the Gaming Board for Great Britain in regulating casinos, bingo, gaming machines and lotteries, stated that some operators had been granted with both remote and non-remote licenses.

The body also stated that it had published its license conditions and codes of practice in June and that these had come into force in September. These established the regulatory framework within which licensed operators must provide facilities for gambling.

The group also published a prevalence survey in September it commissioned on the incidence of gambling and problem gambling. It revealed that the study, which is to be repeated every three years, would provide it with a benchmark against which to judge the effectiveness of any new regulations.

During the second half of the financial year, the Gambling Commission stated that its focus had moved from re-licensing the industry towards working to ensure that operators understood and complied with the new requirements placed on them under its licence conditions and codes of practice.