Required for early embryogenesis and tissue differentiation. Required for pre-mRNA splicing and for exon-junction complex (EJC) assembly. Hinders EIF4A3 from non-specifically binding RNA and escorts it to the splicing machinery to promote EJC assembly on mature mRNAs. Through its role in EJC assembly, required for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (By similarity). Belongs to the CWC22 family.