The settlement, reached cooperatively with AEFA, follows an investigation by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities within the Attorney General’s Office that initially focused on Arthur Davidson, of West High Ridge Road, Cherry Hill. Davidson, a financial adviser in AEFA’s Voorhees office, stole more than $400,000 from at least 22 clients. Davidson pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of theft by deception brought by the Attorney General through the Division of Criminal Justice. The Bureau’s investigation quickly expanded with the uncovering of widespread problems involving AEFA’s failure to reasonably supervise financial advisers within its franchise offices. Under the settlement reached by the Attorney General, AEFA will reform the way it supervises financial advisers and will increase its oversight of financial advisory services to protect clients from misconduct by financial advisers. “In investigating and prosecuting this individual, we identified a larger issue of inadequate supervision of the company’s financial advisers,” said Attorney General Harvey. “To its credit, American Express has worked cooperatively with our office to address deficiencies in its oversight of financial advisers. Our shared goal is to ensure that investors who rely on the American Express brand are treated fairly and that American Express supervises its agents so that investors’ dollars are protected.”