Switzerland's oldest bank is to close permanently after pleading guilty in a New York court to helping Americans evade their taxes. Wegelin, which was established in 1741, has also agreed to pay 57.8 million dollars in fines to US authorities. It said that once this was completed, it will cease to operate as a bank. The bank had admitted to allowing more than one hundred American citizens to hide 1.2 bilion dollar from the Internal Revenue Service for almost 10 years. Wegelin, based in the small Swiss town of St Gallen, becomes the first foreign bank to plead guilty to tax evasion charges in the US.