The U.K. Gambling Commission said Monday that it has launched its new conditions under which licences are granted to gambling operators and staff, together with new codes of practice.  

The Commission said it will have significant new legal powers to monitor the industry and to prosecute illegal gambling. It will also advise central and local government on issues related to gambling.  

Set up in October 2005, the Commission's remit is to regulate the gambling industry in the public interest. The new regulations will be summed up in communications on the licence conditions and codes for the industry, the regulator said.  

Peter Dean, the Commission's chairman. "Britain's gambling laws are undergoing wholesale reform and from September next year all operators must be licensed by the Gambling Commission".  

"The conditions and codes set out the rules which operators must observe to meet our three licensing objectives of keeping crime out of gambling, ensuring that gambling is fair and open, and protecting children and other vulnerable people", Dean said.  

The Commission has powers to criminally prosecute operators who fail to maintain standards and can impose unlimited fines on operators that breach their licence conditions.