(Adds SEC declining to comment, background.) By James Herron Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and Department of Justice have launched an informal probe into matters related to BP PLC (BP) securities and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP said in a statement Tuesday. This is just one of the many probes launched by U.S. authorities into the circumstances of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and subsequent oil spill, BP said. The Department of Justice is conducting a separate investigation into the cause of the incident and the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to seek penalties for violation of the Clean Water Act, BP said. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder June 1 said that the Justice Department was launching civil and criminal probes into the spill. Holder said federal clean air and pollution laws gave him the power to open the investigations. The SEC Tuesday declined to comment. -By James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9317; james.herron@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 27, 2010 12:14 ET (16:14 GMT)