McFarlane fired Antony Jenkins as chief executive on Wednesday and said he was in no rush to name a successor and will conduct a global search of internal and external candidates.
He told staff the appointment may not take place until the spring, according to comments made at an employee meeting, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Another person familiar with the matter said the new CEO could be named at the tail end of this year but it was more likely to be in February or March.
"We're not going to move quickly on this," McFarlane told reporters on a conference call on Wednesday following the ousting of Jenkins.
"These things take time. It gives time for the internal people to show what they can do and it gives time to identify thoroughly the (external) people that haven't been identified in other searches," he added.
Finance Director Tushar Morzaria is the favourite to succeed Jenkins, although even if he is chosen McFarlane may want to work alongside Morzaria as executive chairman for a substantial period to accelerate the bank's turnaround plan.
McFarlane, who only joined the bank in April, is assuming executive duties until a permanent successor is appointed -- similar to what he did at UK insurer Aviva.
(Reporting by Steve Slater in London and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Keith Weir)
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