A contractual arrangement between a US government agency (such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)) and a company or an individual facing a criminal or civil investigation. Under a DPA, the agency files a charging document with the court, but simultaneously requests that the prosecution be postponed to allow the defendant to demonstrate its good conduct. In exchange, DPAs generally require the defendant to agree to:

DPAs typically describe the defendant's conduct, cooperation, and remediation, if any, and calculate the fine under the US Sentencing Guidelines (USSG § 2R (2006)). Unlike a non-prosecution agreement (NPA), DPAs generally require court approval, which is usually granted due to the court's limited scope of review (see United States v. Fokker Servs. B.V., 818 F.3d 733, 744-45 (D.C. Cir. 2016)).

If the defendant complies with the terms of the DPA, the agency moves to dismiss the filed charges. If the defendant breaches the agreement, the DPA typically permits prosecutors to restart the case and use the defendant's admissions in subsequent proceedings.

DPA programs are also developing in other countries, such as the UK, France, Canada, and Japan. In the UK, DPAs were introduced in 2014 for use by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). In France, DPA legislation was signed into law in December 2016. In both the UK and France, DPAs only apply to commercial organizations (not individuals) under investigation for specific offenses, such as fraud, bribery, and other economic crimes.