SEC commissioners will now approve any formal investigation to be taken by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers, a new directive that diverges from the agency's recent practice and gives the Republican-controlled commission greater control over SEC enforcement actions, regulatry attorneys said this week.

Since 2009, SEC investigators had only needed approval from leaders in the SEC's division of enforcement, who are less senior than the appointed commissioners, according to Covington & Burling partner Jerry Hodgkins, a former associate director of the division.