The stuffy world of global bond offerings joined the glittering Internet age yesterday as Freddie Mac issued $6 billion (€5.8 billion) of bonds online and the World Bank unveiled plans for a $3 billion Internet offering.

The World Bank said its global bond offering on the Web would allow individual investors to invest for the first time ever in the bank, which provides loans to developing nations.

Earlier yesterday, Freddie Mac, which packages mortgages into securities for investors, issued a $6 billion bond offering. While that was sold through a traditional syndicate, it also gave investors the opportunity to place orders on the Internet, a first for an agency bond deal.

The World Bank offering takes that a step further by allowing investors to place all orders via the Internet and opening the offering to individual investors.