Business

Some of his best friends are shopkeepers

Now you can add bigoted comments to the list of challenges facing Carsten Kengeter, the head of UBS’s investment banking operation.

The high-powered, German-born Swiss banking head apologized in recent days for statements he made during an intimate dinner at a posh New York eatery with top investment bankers several weeks ago, several sources told The Post.

At the dinner with banking heads of several divisions inside the embattled bank, held to discuss strategy and rally the troops, Kengeter, 44, implored the bankers to make a more concerted effort to streamline the firm and likened the strategy to slashing expenses like a “Jewish shopkeeper,” according to one attendee.

However, rather than breed enthusiasm, Kengeter’s comments deflated morale and infuriated some bankers.

“It didn’t sit well with me,” said a person familiar with Kengeter’s comment.

Kengeter only recently offered a personal apology to attendees of the event when he was in New York in the past few weeks, sources say.

A spokesman for UBS said that the firm “does not comment on speculation about internal meetings.”

“For Carsten, these are comments you just can’t afford to be making at this period,” said Alois Pirker, a financial consultant at Aite Group and former UBS banker.

Kengeter’s foot-in-mouth moment comes as he is attempting to restore the luster of the Zurich-based firm’s treasured banking reputation in the wake of a $2.3 billion trading scandal that forced the resignation of Swiss-banking big shot Oswald Gruebel last month.

Kengeter is also hoping to refurbish his own reputation, which has been tarnished by the trading scandal.

Some UBS insiders say Kengeter — and not Gruebel — should have resigned.

That said, some still view him as a possible candidate to permanently take the reins at UBS, along with interim-CEO Sergio Ermotti.