HSBC swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss from a year-earlier profit, adding fuel to investor worries that slowing growth in Asia will spark a rise in bad loans and lower revenue for the bank and its rivals.

The bank, which last week said it would keep its headquarters in London, said its fourth-quarter loss was $1.33 billion, compared with a year-earlier profit of $511 million, dragged down by bad loans in North America and losses from hedging, according to a spokesman for the bank.