Fox Business in talks with CNBC editor Gasparino

Gasparino is best known for breaking numerous stories on major U.S. banking names like Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, particularly during the peak of the financial crisis.

According to a CNBC spokesman, Gasparino's last day with the business network was last Friday. We thank Charles for all his quality contributions and wish him the best, said CNBC spokesman Brian Steel.

CNBC declined to elaborate.

In the last year Gasparino has developed a tense on-air relationship with some of his fellow presenters, including a famous meltdown with co-presenters like Dylan Ratigan.

Fox has been attempting to raise the profile and ratings of its two-year-old network by recruiting talent like radio host Don Imus for its morning show.

Since its launch in October 2007, Fox Business has struggled to eat into CNBC's ratings dominance in U.S. business television. Fox Business says it is available in just over 50 million U.S. homes, compared with the roughly 95 million homes that receive CNBC in North America.

Despite Gasparino having already left CNBC there is no guarantee he will end up on Fox Business. Veteran business journalist and news anchor Lou Dobbs was widely expected to surface at Fox after he quit CNN last November.

There were reports last year that he had met with Fox News chief Roger Ailes but Dobbs has yet to be unveiled as a presenter on any Fox channel.

A Fox Business spokeswoman confirmed a report by blog TV Newser that Gasparino is in talks with Fox Business.

CNBC, which launched 21 years ago, is part of General Electric Co's NBC Universal unit.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Phil Berlowitz)