By Samuel Indyk and Elizabeth Howcroft

London/Paris — London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) plans to launch tokenised UK shares to expand global access to London-listed companies, it said on Tuesday, and will partner with Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, to explore new ways of trading equities.

The move is the latest step in LSEG’s push into crypto. In February, it said it would build a blockchain-based settlement service.

LSEG said the new initiative would allow products linked to UK-listed shares to be represented as blockchain-based tokens, which could be sold to people who trade cryptocurrencies.

The exchange operator has been under pressure to improve performance from activist investor Elliott Management, which disclosed a…