According to the Guardian newspaper this weekend recent events in the US have likely added to the momentum of the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt's review of UK online gambling.

The government is planning an overhaul of the licensing rules for online gambling to ensure that tax is paid by operators taking money off UK residents. It is expected that advertising privileges will be withdrawn from online operators that do not comply and online players will see bet levels of protection with the UK Gambling Commission being more involved in the regulation of offshore operators.

A spokesman told paper that the events surrounding Full Tilt Poker highlights “why the government is looking at reforming how overseas-based operators are regulated," adding that the ministry hopes to make an announcement in the next few weeks.

Currently offshore gaming operators are allowed to advertise to UK players without having to answer to the UK Gambling Commission and as such the Government has to rely on the integrity of oversees regulators. The problem with this is that offshore governments are competing for the business of gaming operators and as such if regulators are seen to be ‘too stringent’ then the country faces losing business to competing countries and millions of pounds in tax revenues. The UK Gambling Commission would not face such conflicting interests and would be able to regulate the interest in a way that was best for the UK public.

The Guardian spoke to the Isle of Man regulators to see if it applied "fit and proper" test to licensees. Steven Brennan, chief executive of the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission commented: "The GSC thoroughly checks and vets every director and key official of any online gaming company... It has the authority, and has used it, to turn down any company where it feels the company or the owners could bring the island into disrepute."

Reports suggest that the Isle of Man has more stringent ring-fencing requirements on player deposits than regulators in other regions.