The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved IEX Services LLC to conduct auctions of listed securities and initial public offerings.

The approval is an "integral" step in the exchange's pursuit of launching a full listing operation in October, IEX has said. The SEC approval covers opening and closing auctions, launching an IPO auction and an auction to re-open a security after it is subject to a trading pause, among others.

The auctions' designs were partially based on those used on other listing exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Inc. and Bats Global Markets Holdings Inc.

The exchange operator's full listing proposal is still pending other approvals.