1934 legislation. On 11 March 1935, the Bank of Canada began operations, following the granting of royal assent to the Bank of Canada Act. In 1938, while William Lyon Mackenzie King was serving as prime minister, the bank was legally designated a federal Crown corporation. The minister of finance holds the entire share capital issued by the bank. "The capital shall be divided into one hundred thousand shares of the par value of fifty dollars each, which shall be issued to the Minister to be held by the Minister on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada." No changes were made in the purpose of the bank. The government appointed a board of directors to manage the bank, under the leadership of a governor. Each director swore an oath of "fidelity and secrecy" before taking office. In 1944, the Bank of Canada then became the sole issuer of legal tender banknotes in and under Canada. During World War II, the Bank of Canada operated the Foreign Exchange Control Board and the War Finance Committee, which raised funds through Victory Bonds. After the war, the bank's role was expanded as it was mandated to encourage economic growth in Canada. An Act of Parliament in September 1944 established the subsidiary Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to stimulate investment in Canadian businesses. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's central-bank monetary policy was directed towards increasing the money supply to generate low interest rates, and incentivize full employment. When inflation began to rise in the early 1960s, then-Governor James Coyne ordered a reduction in the Canadian money supply. Since the 1980s, the main priority of the Bank of Canada has been keeping inflation low. As part of that strategy, interest rates were kept at a low level for almost seven years in the 1990s. Following the 2008 recession, the central Bank of Canada lowered interest rates to stimulate the economy, but did not practice quantitative easing, as it feared that dramatically increasing the money supply would lead to hyperinflation. Between 2013 and early 2017, the Bank of Canada temporarily moved its offices to 234 Laurier Avenue West in Ottawa to allow major renovations to its headquarters building. In mid 2017, inflation remained below the bank's 2% target, (at 1.6%), mostly because of reductions in the cost of energy, food and automobiles; as well, the economy was in a continuing spurt with a predicted GDP