Silk Route Holding London · Est. 2013
Engage Us
About the firm
Volume 02 · About · 2026

Founded in London
in 2013.
Built for the long view.

The thesis
That the most consequential transactions in energy, capital and government still demand judgement, not scale — and that a small, partner-led firm can deliver work the largest houses cannot.
The format
Privately held. Senior-led. Confidential by default. Five offices across three continents, one set of standards.
§01 heritage — why we took the name

Our
heritage.

The original Silk Route was the world's first cross-border commercial network — a system of merchants, financiers and intermediaries that connected economies long before institutions could. We borrowed the name because the discipline still applies. Our work, like theirs, depends on trust, route knowledge, and the ability to move carefully through complicated geographies.

We are a small firm by design.

The work we take on is sensitive, multi-jurisdictional, and almost always confidential. That requires senior people in the room and a structure that rewards judgement over volume.

Our clients include private principals, family offices, refiners and trading houses, regulated financial institutions, and ministries and state-affiliated entities. Most engagements begin with a single introduction and continue, quietly, for years.

Ancient Silk Road trade routes — the heritage behind Silk Route Holding
Fig. 01 — The original Silk Route connected economies before institutions could.
§02 leadership — three partners, three careers

Leadership.

Our partners lead engagements personally. Their backgrounds span digital infrastructure, professional sport, public service, and two decades of energy operations across the Gulf, Europe and South-East Asia.

Partner / 01
FR
Chairman & Director

H.E. Sir Faisal Rana

Bt., DRK, KRSS — Ambassador-at-Large to Islamic Nations

Faisal is the Chairman and founding Director of Silk Route Holding. He sets the firm's strategic direction and leads its most senior client and government relationships across the Middle East, Europe and South-East Asia.

His career spans more than twenty-five years across technology, international communications and advisory. He began in digital infrastructure with Virgin Internet in London, Siemens Business Services in Türkiye, and Toshiba, before moving into senior strategy at Tribal DDB Worldwide — one of the world's leading communications agencies — where he led programmes for Saudi Telecom, Türk Telekom, Turkish Airlines, Avea, and the European Capital of Culture.

Faisal currently sits as a director of three international companies and as Managing Director of a UK-headquartered conglomerate. In recognition of his humanitarian work in conflict regions, he holds the hereditary honorary title of Baron Knight and serves as Ambassador-at-Large to Islamic Nations and Deputy Grand Master of the Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah and the Order of Kiram.

Based in London Government relations Group strategy 25+ years
Partner / 02
KD
Co-Director · Head of Fuel Logistics

Keith Dublin

Petroleum logistics & commodity strategy

Keith leads the firm's Petroleum and Commodities practice. He is responsible for fuel logistics, supplier and refinery relationships, and the operational execution of cross-border product flows — from contract structuring through to delivery.

Before joining Silk Route Holding, Keith built a twenty-year career as a professional footballer in the English League, including spells at Chelsea, Brighton, Watford and Southend. That career taught him what is now central to his commercial work: high-pressure execution, team discipline, and the value of reading a room before acting in it.

He moved from sport into motivational and leadership advisory, and subsequently into commercial strategy — where he saw directly the gap between financial structuring and operational reality in the oil and gas sector. He now bridges that gap on behalf of the firm's clients, advising principals on logistics, asset management and counterparty selection.

Based in London Petroleum operations Logistics 20+ years
Partner / 03
AM
Operations Director · Indonesia

Asim Abdullah Muhammad

Asia Pacific operations & counterparty mandates

Asim leads Silk Route Holding's Asia Pacific operations from Indonesia. He oversees the firm's energy mandates in the region, manages relationships with refiners and trading desks, and represents the firm in front of counterparties across Indonesia, Malaysia and the wider South-East Asian corridor.

His career spans more than twenty-three years. He began in enterprise technology as a Cisco Certified Network Associate with CHUBB, before moving into the energy sector. He co-founded MAKA FZE in the United Arab Emirates as an oil and gas trading entity, and subsequently held official mandate positions with Bahrain Petroleum Company, Tower Refuge Oil & Gas (New York), and Silk Route Holding.

Asim has been with the firm since 2015 and has led some of its most significant project mandates in Asia. He is known among counterparties for technical fluency, on-the-ground execution, and a quiet, methodical approach to complex multi-party transactions.

Based in Jakarta Asia Pacific Energy mandates 23+ years
§03 principles — what we hold to

“We took the name Silk Route because the original network worked on three things: trust, knowledge of the route, and the discipline to move carefully. A decade in, those are still the only things we sell.”

— Founding Principles, 2013
Working with us

If your work touches our practice, we should speak.

Most engagements begin with a single confidential introduction. We respond to every serious enquiry within the week.

Contact the Firm View Our Practice