Because he felt that he depended too much on the banks for his industrial plans, in 1881 he founded his own bank, Banque Empain, which later became the Belgian Industrial Bank (""Banque Industrielle Belge""). The Empain group of companies expanded greatly throughout the 1890s, constructing electric urban tramlines in Europe, Russia, China, the Belgian Congo, and in Cairo, Egypt. Desiring to also be independent of electricity producers, Empain also was involved in forming a number of electricity companies to power his projects.